DECEMBER 22, 2017 VOLUME 48 ISSUE 51 • AMERICA’S LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE • WASHINGTONBLADE.

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University of Baltimore graduates protest DeVos
Students turn backs on
Education Secretary during
commencement
By BRANDON SODERBERG
BALTIMORE — About 30 people
gathered outside of the Modell Lyric
Opera House on Monday in protest of U.S.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who
was set to give the commencement speech
to University of Baltimore’s fall graduating
class—and a couple hours later inside, 40
or so UB graduates stood with their backs
to DeVos in protest during her speech.
Organized by FORCE: Upsetting Rape
Culture and the Maryland chapter of
the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education
Network (GLSEN) and attended by a
number of University of Baltimore students
and faculty, the rally in front of the Lyric
highlighted DeVos’ connection to the
Trump administration (“White Supremacy
controls who is believed” one banner
read), her aggressive pro-charter school
position, and her roll back of Title IX, the law
against gender-based discrimination that
was expanded under President Obama
to require schools to combat sexual
harassment and sexual assault on campus.
“It seems strange to invite someone
whose goal is to defund and destroy
public education to a public university,”
said Ian Power, an assistant professor
of integrated arts at UB (Power was also
behind a recent “Demand Mayor Pugh
and BOPA restore the Martin Luther King
Jr. Day Parade” petition). “I’m in favor of
Title IX and even though charter schools
for some students offer better resources,
all that does is provide the ones left
behind with fewer resources. This is the
Republican tactic of defunding something
public and then saying ‘It doesn’t work so
we had to shut it down.’”
FORCE’s Saida Agostini stressed DeVos’
commentary recasting concern about
sexual assault on the accused by focusing on
false accusations, which are incredibly low,
according to every legitimate study out there.
“Betsy DeVos has had a pretty
intensely anti-survivor position in her
administration, particularly with critical
Title IX protections by heightening
the burden of proof for survivors on
campus,” Agostini said. “So we’re really
concerned about that as well as her
other actions that continue to destabilize
survivors, people of color, those who
are differently-abled, queer folks. When
we talk about increasing the burden of
proof for survivors, what we’re really
talking about is who is worthy of belief in
campuses and our communities.”
“Our mission is all about making sure
that all students have a safe place to learn
including those students who are LGBT,”
said Jabari Lyles, executive director of
Protesters outside the Lyric where Betsy DeVos spoke earlier this week.
GLSEN. “We know that many of the actions
that Betsy DeVos have set forth, the ones
that she’s already done and the one that
she intends to do will harm students who
are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or
queer. I think back to the guidance that
she rescinded earlier this year and that just
goes to show that she is not here to protect
trans students and that is our mission.”
As parents and faculty began entering
the Lyric for the ceremony, word got
to those outside at the rally that some
faculty sitting on the stage for the
graduation wore large buttons that read,
“Support and Defend Public Schools” and
many students had written anti-DeVos
and anti-Trump messages on the top of
their caps. There was concern that UB
would prevent faculty from wearing the
buttons on stage, and leading up to the
event some UB professors expressed
concern that joining the protest might
result in retribution from the university.
Back in September, the announcement
that DeVos would give the commencement
speech resulted in significant protest from
UB students, a wildly popular Medium
post from UB student Rachael Edwards,
and a statement by the UB Student
Government Association that they were
not informed of DeVos’ booking until far
too late and that it was essentially pushed
through by UB President and former
Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke.
“Your graduation day speaker is
supposed to represent the best ideals of
the school and the highest aspirations
of the students and Betsy DeVos is quite
simply the most anti-public education
secretary of education our country has
ever had,” Democratic candidate for
governor Ben Jealous said at an anti-DeVos
rally at UB back in September. “In her
very short tenure she has made it easier
for banks to profiteer off of students,
she has threatened the very hard-won
protections students have against sexual
assault that President Obama pushed
through, and she has attacked the very
notion of public education itself.”
Anticipation over what would happen
when DeVos spoke was palpable during
the ceremony before she took to the
podium. Earlier this year, DeVos spoke at
historically black college Bethune-Cooke
University, where graduates booed her
and turned their backs.
When Schmoke mentioned DeVos’
name, there was some scant “boo”-ing,
which increased during his generous
introduction of her.
“It’s quite an honor to have a person
whose powerful recommendations have
had such an impact not only on education
but the quality of life of many of us here,”
Schmoke said. “She has been involved in
the education reform movements and
clearly involved in the debate about the
ways in which education is going in our
country from top to bottom.”
As DeVos began her speech, two
women stood in the front row just feet
away from DeVos with their backs facing
her. One held up her graduation cap,
which had “Not My Commencement
Speaker” written on it. Soon, another
joined the two and then slowly more
students stood up with their back to
DeVos staring straight ahead, some with
their fists up. Slowly, it grew to about 40
University of Baltimore graduates turning
their back on DeVos in protest, including
the parents of some of the students.
“In a fast-paced modern world, it is healthy
to develop an interior life, to be silent, to pray,”
DeVos declared, as cameras flashed, taking
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
PHOTO BY BRANDON SODERBERG
photos of solemn students staring the other
way. DeVos’ speech, which leaned heavily
on deceptive rhetoric about “choice” when
promoting private charter schools along with a
smattering of loosely inspirational graduation
speech platitudes, was besides the point and a
burst of claps, boos, and disinterested chatter
rose up as DeVos walked off the stage.
“I would have never had the opportunity to
pursue higher education without there being
an option to go to a public school. I wouldn’t
have been able to afford it,” said Emily
Wenker, a UB graduate who stood with her
back to DeVos. “Today I graduated summa
cum laude after working my way through
school for seven years. Betsy DeVos does not
represent me as a student. I stood up because
I earned this day, and it was disrespectful to
us, as graduates, to be misrepresented.”
Rachael Edwards chose not to attend
the ceremony at all.
“Today was my undergraduate
graduation,” Edwards said. “I have been
waiting for this moment for years. The
reason why I did not attend graduation
today is because I believe it devalues
University of Baltimore’s mission
to ensure students are protected.
‘Protected’ meaning down to the speakers
we invite into safe spaces. The Trump
administration, which includes Secretary
of Education Betsy DeVos, unleashed
a handful of policies that undermine
marginalized communities. I refused
to go because I do not believe in giving
platforms to anyone that represents
an administration that is hell bent on
destroying vulnerable communities.”
BRANDON SODERBERG is managing
editor of the Baltimore Beat, a sister
publication of the Blade. Additional reporting
by Jaisal Noor of the Real News Network.
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Comings & Goings
Latest book by Fay Jacobs wins award
By PETER ROSENSTEIN
The Comings and Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of
our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their
business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your
successes with us at comingsandgoings@washblade.com.
Congratulations to Daniel Hicks who is a contributor
to an important new book, “Gay Mental Healthcare
Providers and Patients in the Military.” His editor wrote,
“On behalf of Springer Science + Business Media, I would
like to thank you for your contribution to our pool of
clinical medicinal knowledge.  This book would not be
possible without you.”  Hicks said other local individuals
included in the book are: Dr. Martin Chin, Dr. Steve Tulin
(a neuropsychologist at Howard) and Dr. Cam Ritchie
who headed the D.C. Department of Mental Health after
DANIEL HICKS
PHOTO COURTESY OF HICKS
she retired from the military.
Hicks is currently Associate Professor, Department of
Psychiatry Clinical Educator Track and Medical Director,
Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program at Georgetown
University Hospital in D.C. Previously he worked as a
staff psychiatrist at Whitman-Walker and spent years at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center HIV Program, providing JIMMY ROCK
psychiatric evaluation and treatment of HIV-infected PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCK
military beneficiaries and their families; education and
support services to inpatients, outpatients and staff.
Hicks received his bachelor’s with distinction from
Purdue University, his doctorate from Indiana University
School of Medicine and did his residency, at Indiana
University School of Medicine.
Congratulations also to Jimmy R. Rock who is now
Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Public Advocacy
FAY JACOBS
Division of the D.C. Attorney General’s office. The Division PHOTO COURTESY OF
has two sections: Housing and Community Justice (which JACOBS
handles housing and public nuisance enforcement along
with wage theft cases) and the Public Integrity Section,
which handles antitrust, nonprofit and charity enforcement, false claims act cases
and environmental work.  He is also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown
University Law Center.
Prior to this appointment he was Deputy Director, Office of Consumer Protection,
where he helped to establish the stand-alone Office of Consumer Protection;
managing local and multi-state consumer protection investigations and litigation and
overseeing a staff of five line attorneys and three investigators. He has also worked in
the private sector for Troutman Sanders LLP and Sidley & Austin, LLP, Washington, D.C.
He clerked in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Gainesville, for
the Honorable Maurice Paul. He received the Charles Resichel writing award (2013);
and the Distinguished Service Award for trial of affirmative litigation (2013).
Rock earned his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in Organizational
Communication from the University of Tulsa, and his master’s of Theological Studies
from Emory University. He earned his Juris Doctor from Emory School of Law. He lives
with his husband Tom in D.C. where they spoil their rescue dog Kensi.
Congratulations also to Fay Jacobs whose new book “Fried & Convicted – Rehoboth
Beach Uncorked” has been named one of the top three LGBT Books of the Year for
2017 by the International Rainbow Awards. This annual contest included more than
400 books from all over the world, juried by 137 judges, and included submissions
from mainstream, independent, and self-publishers. Jacobs is published by Bywater
Books. This is Jacobs’ fifth collection of essays from the publications Letters from
CAMP Rehoboth and Delaware Beach Life. Upon being notified of the award Jacobs
said, “I’m stunned and thrilled to be recognized like this from the Rainbow Awards,
especially considering the global reach and number and caliber of entries.”   Court records show that Ahmed is married and has five children. At the time of his
In “Fried & Convicted,” the author returns with more biting observations and laugh
out loud dispatches from her life as a magazine scribe and sit-down comic. She takes on
the absurdities of contemporary life from her boardwalk bench in Rehoboth Beach, Del.  the release allowed him to leave home for daily prayer at a mosque in Falls Church or at
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
Dentist gets 16 years
in prison for
sexually assaulting
male patients
Victims under anesthesia at time of abuse
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
 
A D.C. Superior Court Judge on Dec. 15 sentenced former District dentist Bilal Ahmed
to 16 and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting five male former patients and one
male former employee at his dental office on the 2300 block of M St., N.W., between
2010 and 2014.
The sentence also calls for Ahmed, 45, to register as a sex offender for the rest of his
life upon his release from prison, at which time he will also be placed on three years of
supervised probation.
The sentencing came six months after Ahmed, whose dental licenses in D.C. and
Maryland were suspended, pleaded guilty to five felony charges and three misdemeanor
charges related to the sexual assaults against the patients and employee.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed
to drop several additional charges against Ahmed handed down by a Superior Court
Grand Jury in a multi-count indictment in October 2016.
The Washington Post reported that four of the former patients and one former
employee testified at the Dec. 15 sentencing hearing that Ahmed’s actions caused them
to suffer lasting emotional distress. At least one of the victims testified he is suffering
from posttraumatic stress disorder due to the sexual assault, the Post reported.
“The offenses against the dental patient victims…followed a typical pattern in which
Ahmed would take patients into the procedure room, close the door, administer nitrous
oxide through a face mask, and then sexually assault the victims while they were
sedated,” a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
A charging document filed in court says Ahmed asked four of the five patients whom
he admitted to sexually assaulting “intrusive and inappropriate questions” about their
personal life, including their sexual orientation, shortly before administering the nitrous
oxide anesthesia.
“I feel the shame,” the Post quoted Ahmed as telling Judge Zoe Bush minutes before
the sentencing. “To err is human, to forgive divine.”
In a statement released shortly after the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu said
Ahmed violated the trust of his patients in the worst possible way.
“Bilal Ahmed used his dental practice and his position of authority to sexually abuse
vulnerable victims, some of whom were his own patients and staff,” Liu said. “His victims
included people who came to him for treatment and employment, caught off guard
by his outrageous conduct,” she said. “Today’s sentence holds him accountable for his
criminal breach of trust.”
The Post reported that Ronald Weiner, a forensic mental health expert who examined
Ahmed after his arrest, testified at the sentencing hearing that Ahmed disclosed that he
was sexually assaulted as a child. Weiner said he believes Ahmed “would not reoffend
after therapy,” the Post reported.
plea agreement in May prosecutors agreed to allow Ahmed to be released into home
detention at his Fall Church, Va., residence until the time of his sentencing. The terms of
the Islamic Center on Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington.
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Council withdraws street-naming bill honoring gay Democrat
Capitol Hill ANC raises
allegation of gay male
escort service use
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com  spend more time working on it.”
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson
on Tuesday temporarily withdrew from
consideration of a bill that calls for
the ceremonial naming of a street on
Capitol Hill for the late Richard Rausch, a
prominent gay Democratic Party activist
and advocate for LGBT rights.
Mendelson withdrew the Richard
Rausch Way Designation Act of 2017
from a scheduled vote by the Council’s
Committee of the Whole after Advisory
Neighborhood Commission 6B voted to
oppose the bill at a Dec. 12 meeting in
which one of its members cited a book
written by the former owner of a gay
male escort service that claimed Rausch
was a client of the service in the 1980s.
Rausch died in 2007 of complications
associated with pneumonia at the age of 71.
While in the hospital two days before
his passing friends said Rausch was
making phone calls to generate support
for the election campaign of former
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, a gesture that
friends and political associates called a
testament to Rausch’s dedication to the
causes he believed in.
In a letter to Mendelson informing him
that it voted 10-0 to oppose the street
naming bill, the ANC made no mention
of the escort service matter. It said its
opposition was based on procedural
grounds, noting that neither the Council
nor the city agency in charge of street
namings notified the ANC or residents of
the street about the pending bill until six
months after it was introduced and after
a public hearing was held in September.
“ANC 6B recognizes the significant
contributions by Mr. Rausch, at both the
local and national levels, in advancing
Democratic Party principles and
advocating for important causes,” the
Dec. 18 letter states. “However, it is the
view of the Commission that there was
a lack of community support for the Bill
due to insufficient notice to the ANC and
thus to the neighbors on the 200 block of
2nd Street, S.E. prior to a hearing on the
bill,” the letter says.
Earl Fowlkes, president of the Gertrude
Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest
local LGBT political group, and chair of the
Democratic National Committee’s LGBT
Caucus, said he is sympathetic to the
ANC’s concern about a procedural breach
that prevented it from learning about the
Rausch bill earlier in the process.
But Fowlkes said he was concerned
that the book alleging that Rauch may
RICHARD RAUSCH was an LGBT rights and Democratic Party activist who died in 2007.
have been an escort service client was
brought up at the ANC meeting, saying
such an issue was irrelevant to Rausch’s
career of more than 40 years as a human
rights advocate, Democratic Party activist,
and champion for LGBT equality.
When told that ANC commissioners
stated at their Dec. 12 meeting in which
they voted to oppose the Rausch bill
that the escort service matter was not a
deciding factor in their decision to oppose
the bill, Fowlkes said, “So why bring it up? If
it’s not a deciding factor, why mention it?”
According to an audio recording of
the ANC’s Dec. 12 meeting, which the
Washington Blade obtained, ANC 6B
member Jennifer Samolyk raised the issue
of a reference to Rausch in a 2015 book by
gay former escort service operator Henry W.
Vinson called “Confessions of a D.C. Madam:
The Politics of Sex, Lies, and Blackmail.”
“I did some research into Mr. Rausch,”
Samolyk told her fellow commissioners.
“And I’ve also talked with some neighbors.
And Mr. Rausch was a client of the D.C.
Madam,” she said. “And at the height of
the scandal she lived with him at that 2nd
Street address.”
When contacted by the Blade on
Tuesday Samolyk acknowledged she
may have misunderstood an excerpt of
the book she read online to incorrectly
assume that the “D.C. Madam” referred
to in the book was a woman.
In his book, Vinson says he described
himself as the D.C. Madam in his role as
owner and operator of the city’s largest
male escort service. He states in the book
that he became friends with Rausch and
asked Rausch if he could stay at Rausch’s
apartment after D.C. police raided his
house in the city’s Chevy Chase section in
1989, where he operated the service, and
sealed the house as evidence in a case
police said involved illegal prostitution.
Vinson told the Washington Post at the
PHOTO COURTESY DAVID MEADOWS
time that his operation was strictly a dating
service and did not involve prostitution.
In the ANC’s audio recording of the Dec. 12
meeting, Samolyk and other commissioners
said they did not want to dwell on the escort
service angle alleged in the book, saying
they should base their opposition to the
street naming bill based on what they called
a flawed procedure by the Council and
city that failed to notify the ANC about the
existence of the bill in time for it to submit a
response prior to the public hearing.
At least two ANC members, who
couldn’t be identified from the dialogue
on the audio recording, said they also
opposed the bill because they did not
believe Rausch was a significant enough
public figure to merit a street to be
named after him.
“I looked him up and I read a Post bio,”
said a male commissioner whose name
couldn’t immediately be identified. “It
didn’t rise to me to the level, even without
the Madam thing, it wasn’t clear this was
somebody that influential,” he said.
Council member Charles Allen
(D-Ward 6) told the Washington Blade
that Mendelson withdrew the bill at his
request following his learning of the
opposition by the ANC and residents of
2nd Street, S.E. where the ceremonial
name of Rausch would be placed should
the bill be approved by the full Council.
Allen noted that the failure to notify the
ANC and residents of the neighborhood
about the bill was due to a typographical
error on the bill that incorrectly identified
the street to be designated as Richard
Rausch Way as the 200 block of 2nd
Street, S.W. He said that up until the time
the mistake was discovered the official
notifications went to the wrong place.
“So I asked if the chairman would pull it
off the agenda today so we could spend a
little more time working on this,” Allen told
the Blade in a Dec. 19 phone interview.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
“But the bottom line is I’d like for us to
find a way to honor Richard and his many,
many contributions,” Allen said.  “And so
basically today’s action kind of pulled it
off the agenda for a vote today so we can
The bill’s author, Council member
Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), introduced
the measure on May 2. Nine of Bonds’
Council colleagues, including Allen and
Mendelson, signed on as co-sponsors. All
of the witnesses that testified at a Sept.
20 public hearing on the bill expressed
support for the measure.
In its letter of opposition, ANC 6B
members said they would prefer that the
Council adopt a procedure for vetting
ceremonial street namings, including the
Rausch proposal, similar to the procedure
now used for vetting ceremonial namings
of city alleys. According to the letter, that
procedure involves obtaining petition
signatures from nearby residents and input
from residents and the ANC before an alley
naming proposal is formally proposed.
“In addition, the Commission noted that,
on a practical level, adding another sign on
a block already filled with other signage
could lead to more confusion,” the letter
says. “While ANC 6B welcomes Council
recognition of Mr. Rausch, as was done in
2005 with Mayor Williams’ proclamation
of Nov. 11, 2005 as ‘Richard Rausch Day,’
we do not believe that the proposed bill
for symbolically renaming the 200 block
of 2nd Street, S.E. is appropriate at the
present,” the letter concludes.
Fowlkes said he takes strong exception
to claims by some ANC members that
Rausch isn’t a significant enough figure
to merit a ceremonial street naming for
him. He described as “absurd” the claim
by the ANC in its letter that adding the
ceremonial sign “Richard Rausch Way” to
2nd Street, S.E. would create confusion in
the neighborhood.
“There are dozens of these signs all over
the city,” he said. “And no one complains. No
one’s confused. And it’s bizarre. It’s unfair,”
he said in referring to the ANC’s opposition.
“And hopefully they will correct
themselves because of the typographical
error and they will be able to vote on this
again,” Fowlkes said. “It will be interesting.
If they come up with the same conclusion
the second time, then we have to look a
little deeper at the motive.”
“Essentially what we’re doing is hitting
the pause button a little bit,” Allen told
the Blade. “So basically we’re just waiting
to bring it back to the Committee of the
Whole,” he said. “It gives us time to have
a conversation. And in my best case
scenario to work with the ANC and ask
can objections be overcome and what
are the ways we can make sure we honor
Richard Rausch.”
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Amazon search for HQ2 linked to LGBT rights?
Some activists urge
corporate giant to shun
states with anti-LGBT laws
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com  The Seattle Times, which closely
In a little-noticed development,
Amazon’s surprise announcement in
September that it plans to open a second
headquarters has prompted growing
speculation on whether the corporate
giant will consider a state or city’s laws on
LGBT issues as a factor in choosing the
location of the new headquarters.
Based on the size and scope of its
current corporate headquarters in
Seattle, observers familiar with the tech
company say the new headquarters will
likely result in a workforce of 50,000 and
a $5 billion boost to the local economy of
the city and state Amazon chooses.
LGBT rights groups, including the
Human Rights Campaign, have noted
that Amazon is among the most LGBT
supportive corporations in the nation. It
received a perfect 100 percent score on
HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
In October, HRC named Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos the winner of its National
Equality Award for his and his company’s
LGBT supportive policies, including his
personal financial support for efforts to
bring about marriage equality. Bezos
appeared as one of the lead speakers at
HRC’s annual national dinner in D.C. at
the time he accepted the HRC award.
Given Amazon’s strong support for
LGBT rights, many in the LGBT and the
business community have speculated
that the company would at least consider
a state and city’s record on LGBT issues
as a possible condition for selecting the
state and city for its new headquarters.
In some cities, such as Atlanta and
Houston, which are considered to be
among the top contenders for the new
Amazon headquarters, LGBT activists
have expressed concern that their
respective states’ poor record on LGBT
rights could jeopardize their chances of
landing the Amazon headquarters, even
though the two cities have strong records
of support for LGBT equality.
“The reality is many of the big cities in
America, particularly in Texas – Houston,
San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso – are
islands in a big toxic red state,” said lesbian
activist and former Houston Mayor Annise
Parker, who was named earlier this month
as CEO of the Victory Fund.
“And it’s painful to have the cities where
many of our LGBTQ community live and
work and where many of our officials are
elected be penalized because of state
actions that are discriminatory,” Parker
told the Washington Blade on Tuesday.
Parker said she doesn’t know the
status of Houston’s bid for Amazon’s new
A rendering of Baltimore’s Port Covington neighborhood, one of many contenders for the new
Amazon HQ2.
headquarters, which is being referred to as
“HQ2.” But she said that as someone who
represented Houston in the recent past
she doesn’t want to see the city penalized.
Jeff Graham, executive director of the
statewide LGBT advocacy group Georgia
Equality, said he was hopeful that Amazon
and other corporations considering
moving to Atlanta would look past efforts
by some in the state legislature to pass an
anti-LGBT “religious liberties” bill.
Georgia’s Republican governor, Nathan
Deal, vetoed a so-called religious freedom
restoration act, or RFRA bill, in 2016
and has urged the state legislature not
to jeopardize Georgia’s effort to attract
Amazon by trying to pass a similar bill
again next year.
LGBT rights advocates say the RFRA laws
give businesses and some individuals a
right to refuse to sell products or provide
services to LGBT people on grounds of
their personal religious beliefs.  
“While Amazon has not been explicit
about the impact that legislation such
as RFRA would have on any specific bid,
most observers agree that this is likely to
be a factor in the determination of where
their new headquarters will be located,”
Graham said.
“It also should be noted that while
the state lacks LGBT protections, the
city of Atlanta has had an inclusive
nondiscrimination ordinance on the
books for nearly 20 years,” Graham said.
“Finally, it’s important to point out that
some 700 companies throughout Georgia
have signed the Georgia Prospers pledge,”
said Graham.
He said the pledge explicitly states
that a prosperous business environment
is dependent upon communities that
are open and welcoming to a diverse
population, including members of the
LGBT community.
Other cities and states that have
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
diverse population.”
Some have interpreted that to mean
the company wants the new host city and
state to be supportive of LGBT people
who would be expected to be part of
Amazon’s workforce.
covers Amazon-related developments
in the company’s Seattle headquarters,
reported that the company has disclosed
some factors it would also look for in a
new location include a close proximity to
an international airport, a tech talent pool
in the workforce, and a relatively low cost
of living in the city or state.
Sara Warbelow, HRC’s legal director,
said HRC is closely monitoring the impact
companies like Amazon have on efforts by
LGBT rights groups to push for supportive
laws and policies in states and cities.
“One of the things we have asked
corporations to do is weigh in with
IMAGE COURTESY PLANK INDUSTRIES
governors and state legislators explaining
to them why it’s bad for business to target
announced they have placed bids for the LGBTQ people in negative ways and to not
new Amazon headquarters include D.C., adopt common sense nondiscrimination
Virginia, Baltimore, Miami and Pittsburgh. policies for LGBTQ people,” Warbelow said.
An Amazon spokesperson did not Warbelow was cautious in her
respond to a request from the Washington response when asked whether HRC has
Blade to confirm whether its criteria specifically called on Amazon to adopt a
for selecting a city and state for its new state’s record on LGBT rights as criteria
headquarters include supportive laws or condition for selecting a location for its
and policies for the LGBT community. new headquarters.
Amazon observers have pointed “We do a lot of education to a
to the request for proposals that variety of corporations using our tools,
Amazon released when it announced including the Corporate Equality Index,
it was looking for a location for its the Municipal Equality Index and State
new headquarters. Among the criteria Equality Index,” she said. “We are
mentioned in the RFP was a reference to constantly providing information to
a “cultural community fit” for its workers corporations about the rights of LGBTQ
along with the “presence and support of a people and impacts on us.”
Dems retake Va. House thanks to a single vote
Republicans this week lost control of the Virginia House of Delegates after a
Democrat won a recount by a single vote.
Election officials said Shelly Simonds beat state Del. David Yancey (R-Newport
News) by an 11,608-11,607 vote margin.
The Washington Post reported that Yancey was ahead of Simonds by 10 votes
going into the recount that took place on Tuesday.
“I knew it was going to be a roller coaster ride and the counts were going to
change and votes were going to shift around, but I had faith in the system and
final outcome,” Simonds told the Post.
Republicans have controlled the House of Delegates since 2000.
Simonds’ victory creates a rare tie between Democrats and Republicans in
the chamber. Officials certified the results of her race more than a month after
Democrats picked up more than a dozen seats in the House of Delegates.
Democrats Ralph Northam and Justin Fairfax will be sworn in as governor and
lieutenant governor respectively on Jan. 13. Attorney General Mark Herring won
re-election after defeating Republican John Adams.
“Christmas came early today for Virginia Democrats,” proclaimed Democratic
Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker in a statement. “Today’s results should
strike fear into the heart of every Republican on the ballot next year.”
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM D E CE MBE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 • 1 1

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Report of banned words at CDC alarms LGBT health experts
Agency disputes story,
insists ‘transgender,’
‘diversity’ not barred
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
A recent report in the Washington Post
that the Centers for Disease Control is
barred from using certain words like
“fetus,” “diversity” and “transgender” in
budget documents alarmed LGBT and
HIV/AIDS health experts, although the
agency disputes the characterization of
the story.
In an article published last week, the
Post quoted an anonymous analyst who
took part in a meeting in Atlanta on
Thursday as saying CDC was forbidden
to use seven words in documents for the
fiscal year 2018 budget request. Those
words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,”
“diversity,”  “transgender,” “fetus,”
“evidence-based” and “science-based.”
The reported ban on those words
ignited a firestorm among LGBT advocates
in particular of the reported ban on the
word “transgender.” The prohibition on
the words “diversity,” “evidence-based”
and “science-based” also caused concern
because of the implications of those
words for the LGBT community.
In the view of many LGBT advocates, the
report reinforced the widely held belief
the Trump administration is seeking to
eliminate any mention of LGBT people
from public life, which includes efforts this
year to eliminate LGBT questions from
federal surveys. HHS ended up reinstating
a sexual orientation question to a federal
health survey for older Americans, but
kept out the gender identity question.
Daniel Bruner, senior director of policy
for the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker
Clinic, expressed uncertainty about the
report on the basis the administration is
sending mixed messages, but said “we’re
very concerned.”
“The CDC is critical for HIV prevention
and treatment issues and one of the
most heavily affected or really devastated
communities by HIV is transgender
women, and there’s growing concern
about how to address prevention needs
in particular of transgender women and
the realization that there needs to be a
lot more research and a lot more funding
going into that community,” Bruner said.
“For the CDC to be told when you’re
submitting budget documents, don’t talk
about transgender people, or even use
the term is potentially horrifying.”
Bruner pointed to the CDC’s own
estimates on the impact of HIV on
transgender women. The U.S. agency
cites a 2013 National Institute for Health
report that found an estimated 22
percent of transgender women have HIV.
The reported ban on the use of the
word “diversity” is also concerning, Bruner
said, because it would mark a reversal
from the Obama administration when
“there was kind of a growing realization
of the federal government to put a lot
more effort and a lot more research into
health inequities that affect particular
communities...like the LGBT community.”
Carl Schmid, deputy director of the
AIDS Institute, said a major concern for
HIV/AIDS policy advocates is the reported
ban on use of “evidence-based” and
“science-based” in budget documents.
“Everything that we do is evidence-
based,” Schmid said. “We treat people
for HIV, we test people for HIV. How
frequently and the messages for sex-
ed are all evidence-based. Why do we
start treatment early? Why do we get
people tested? It’s all evidence-based.
And condoms. Everything that we do is
scientific- and evidence-based.”
Asked what programs in particular
would be imperiled if CDC was unable to
use the reportedly banned words, Bruner
said, “at this point we don’t know
enough,” but cited programs that focus
on HIV and transgender women as well
as programs studying health inequities
among LGBT people.
“Just as a general matter, when you
have the administration telling one of
its chief scientific agencies don’t use
the words ‘evidence-based’ or ‘science-
based,’ that would really be of great
concern,” Bruner added.
But CDC is disputing the account of
banned words at the agency in budget
documents or in any other capacity.
Brenda Fitzgerald, director for the
Centers for Disease Control, said in a
statement “there are no banned, prohibited
or forbidden words at the CDC — period.”
“I want to emphasize to anyone who
may believe otherwise that we continue
to encourage open dialogue about all
of the important public health work
we do,”  Fitzgerald said. “CDC  has a
longstanding history of making public
health and budget decisions that are
based on the best available science and
data that benefits all Americans — and
we will continue to do so.”
Fitzgerald added “confusion” arose
from a staff-level discussion at a routine
meeting about how to present CDC’s
budget, which she said “was never
intended as overall guidance for how we
describe and conduct CDC’s work.”
Based on conversations he had with
Trump administration officials, Schmid
said he thinks the seven words might not
‘Everything that we do is evidence-based,’ said CARL SCHMID, deputy director of the AIDS
Institute.
be banned, but the CDC has guidance in
place not to use them.
“I don’t think these words are banned,”
Schmid said. “I think people are saying
that could be a mischaracterization. I
think it was guidance and suggestions,
and I think people took it too far, but I
think it’s good that the story got out there
and there’s a reason why people are
acting this way because there has been
some editing of documents.”
An analysis by the AIDS Institute
found a distinct difference in word
usage in budget documents in FY-17,
the final budget request for the Obama
administration, and FY-18, an early
budget request of the Trump years.
The word “transgender” came up 10
times in Obama-era documents, but only
once in the Trump era. Additionally, the
word “diversity” came up seven times in
Obama documents, but only two times in
Trump documents. The phrase “evidence-
based” came up 119 times in the Obama
documents, but only 23 times in the
Trump documents.
“Nothing has impacted the programs,”
Schmid said. “They’re still doing
transgender prevention programs. That
has not changed.”
What’s the reasoning for the guidance
against certain words in budget
documents? Schmid cited speculation
they were edited out to appease a
Republican-controlled Congress.
Schmid said he was cautious about
that reasoning because he doesn’t
understand why Republicans would
object to “evidence-based” and “science-
based” terminology or resist HIV funding
for transgender people because they’re
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCHMID
the most in need of treatment.
“It comes back to the whole sex ed
controversy and the whole abstinence
only until marriage,” Schmid said. “That
seems to be an area where the debate
over science-based and evidence has
been up in the air, debated. It’s not that
we debate it, but the politicos debate it.”
Schmid also said “part of the issue”
might be social conservatives Trump
appointed to administer HHS. Among
them is Roger Severino, a former Heritage
Foundation scholar who once criticized
transgender healthcare, but is now in
charge of defending it as director of the
Office of Civil Rights.
The White House referred a request for
comment to the Department of Health &
Human Services, which didn’t respond.
The Office of Management & Budget,
which prepares budget documents, didn’t
respond to a request to comment on
whether there was any administration-
wide guidance on banned words.
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of the LGBT media
watchdog GLAAD, said in a statement
OMB should follow suit and deny the
report to make clear banned words aren’t
part of an administration-wide policy.
“The Office of Management & Budget
owes this country full transparency about
their alleged promotion of dangerous
censorship that harkens back to the days
that HIV and AIDS research and funding
were restricted with deadly effects,”
Ellis said. “We cannot and will not allow
hateful ideology, bigotry and personal
bias determine the health can wellness of
the transgender community – which has
been serially targeted for erasure under
the Trump administration.”
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“A court of appeals stay would only stay the preliminary injunction granted in that
circuit,” Davidson said. “It would therefore take grants of stay motions by the D.C.,
Fourth, and Ninth Circuits to stay all of the current preliminary injunctions against the
trans military ban.”
Regardless of the decision of the appellate courts on a stay, the losing party can appeal
to the U.S. Supreme Court. If a stay is denied, for example, the Justice Department can
seek relief from the Supreme Court. If a stay is granted, transgender rights advocate
can seek a reversal.
A Supreme Court stay in one case would “only indirectly” stay the orders in the other
cases, Davidson said, but would nonetheless likely result in a global stay.
“Judges hearing stay motions in those cases would likely grant a stay in them if the
Supreme Court stayed an injunction in another case because, if they didn’t, the Supreme
Court likely would issue a stay in their cases as well, if brought up to them,” Davidson said.
PRESIDENT TRUMP’s Justice Department proposes several ways the Fourth Circuit could stay a Davidson added, “That did not happen in all the marriage cases, however, so it’s not
ruling in favor of trans military enlistments.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY LEE WHITMAN
a sure thing.”
CHRIS JOHNSON

Trump not done fighting

trans military enlistments
No fewer than three courts have ruled against President Trump’s transgender
Senate rejects anti-LGBT nominee
military ban, but the Trump administration isn’t done fighting potential transgender to Export-Import Bank
enlistments, which are set to take place Jan. 1 as the result of the rulings.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department filed a request before the U.S. Fourth Circuit Amid objections from LGBT groups, the
Court of Appeals seeking a stay on a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis U.S. Senate rejected on Tuesday a Trump
against the transgender ban. The request is limited to the order requiring the U.S. nominee to the U.S. Export-Import Bank
military to allow qualified transgender people to enlist starting Jan. 1. with a history of anti-LGBT views.
“Absent further relief from this court...the military will be forced to implement The Senate Committee on Banking,
a significant change to its accession standards before it decides how to resolve this Housing & Urban Affairs rejected
issue,” the request says. “As military leadership has explained, this timetable will place the nomination of Scott Garrett  on
extraordinary burdens on our armed forces and may harm military readiness.” a bipartisan vote of 10-13. In June,
The Garbis ruling, as well as the two other court decisions against the transgender Trump nominated Garrett as
ban, made Jan. 1 the target date for transgender accessions. That was the date Defense president of the Export-Import Bank,
Secretary James Mattis selected in a June 30 memo before Trump announced in July via which provides finance assistance to
Twitter he would ban transgender people from the military and followed that up with a help foreign entities buy U.S. exports.
directive in August. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tim
The Justice Department proposes several ways the Fourth Circuit could stay Garbis’ Scott (R-S.C.) joined Democrats in
ruling. The first option is staying the ruling as it pertains to constraining Mattis’ own voting “no.” SCOTT GARRETT was rejected as
ability to extend the delay on transgender military service. Also proposed is scaling During his career as a U.S. House president of the Export-Import Bank.
back the nationwide scope of the injunction, which could mean staying transgender member representing New Jersey PHOTO BY GAGE SKIDMORE VIA WIKIMEDIA
accessions except the one transgender plaintiff who was a potential enlistee and found between 2003 and 2017, Garrett
to have standing in the case. supported anti-LGBT measures. The
Finally, the Justice Department suggests staying accessions in their entirety on the lawmaker was a co-sponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act, a federal
basis the Garbis order “rests on legal errors concerning jurisdiction, the equities, and “religious freedom” bill seen to enable discrimination against LGBT people.
the merits.” A champion of the Federal Marriage Amendment, Garrett also spoke out in
“Without a stay, the military will, at the risk of harming its readiness posture, have 2004 on the House floor in favor of the measure, which would have banned
to rush to provide the requisite training to the tens of thousands of service members same-sex marriage across the country.
across the country responsible for implementing accession standards,” the brief says. “I rise today in full support of this body’s effort to preserve the sacred
Notably, the request doesn’t seek a stay on parts of the Garbis order that barred the institution of marriage,” Garrett said. “Children are best served when they are
U.S. military from kicking out openly transgender people currently in service or refusing raised and influenced by a mom and a dad, and marriage must continue to be
payments for gender reassignment surgeries. The request, however, adds the U.S. the institution to best raise children and not simply for the desires of adults.”
government “may seek a stay of these aspects of the injunction at a later date after a But Garrett stood out from other Republicans in terms of anti-LGBT views. In
final policy determination.” 2015, Politico reported he’d refuse to contribute money to the National Republican
The Justice Department had already appealed the Garbis decision to the Fourth Congressional Committee because it actively recruited gay candidates and supported
Circuit after the judge ruled against Trump’s ban as result of the litigation, which was gays in primaries. Just two years earlier, Richard Tisei, who’s gay, won the Republican
filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The stay request would halt the portion of nomination to run for the seat representing Massachusetts’ 6th congressional district.
the order pertaining to enlistments as the litigation moves forward. In 2016, Garrett’s anti-LGBT views were a major issue in his campaign to retain
The Trump administration is also seeking a stay on transgender accessions from the his seat representing New Jersey’s 5th congressional district. The Republican
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C. in response to an order from U.S. District Judge ended up losing to Democrat Joshua Gottheimer, who now occupies the seat.
Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The court has ordered the National Center for Lesbian Rights and But the basis for Garrett’s rejection in the Senate seems less about his anti-
GLBTQ Advocates & Defenders, which filed the lawsuit, to respond by the end of Friday. LGBT views and more about his position on the Export-Import Bank.
Another judge in Washington State, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, also ruled As a U.S. House member, Garrett voted to shut down the bank. The institution
against the transgender ban. The Justice Department has yet to take action in response has many GOP critics, who say it promotes cronyism, distorts markets and
to this decision. unfairly helps large corporations and foreign entities.
A fourth lawsuit challenging the transgender ban filed by Equality California is pending Had Garrett been confirmed as chair of the Export-Import Bank, he would
before a district court in that state. The court held oral arguments earlier this week, but have succeeded Obama administration appointee Fred Hochberg, who’s gay
has yet to render a decision. and one of the most senior LGBT appointees in the Obama administration. 
Jon Davidson, former legal director for Lambda Legal, said the Fourth Circuit only CHRIS JOHNSON
has authority to stay the trial court order within its jurisdiction, so even if a stay were
granted, transgender accessions would begin as a result of other court orders.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM D E CE MBE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 • 1 5

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1 6 • DE CE MB ER 2 2, 2017 I N T E RN A T I O N A L N E W S

The Bermuda House of Representatives earlier this month approved the Domestic
Partnership Bill, which would allow same-sex couples to enter into domestic partnerships
as opposed to get married. The measure passed in the Bermuda Senate on Dec. 13 by
an 8-3 margin.
Tourism accounts for nearly a third of Bermuda’s gross domestic product.
The Bermuda Tourism Authority on its website says 643,000 people visited Bermuda
in 2016. Statistics also indicate that 86 percent of visitors who arrived by cruise ship and
75 percent of visitors who arrived by air were from the U.S.
The Bermuda Tourism Authority — which on its website says it “promotes Bermuda
globally as a world-class destination for leisure and group travel and tourism investment”
— in a letter it sent to senators urged them to oppose the bill. The Bermuda Tourism
Authority noted, among other things, North Carolina’s economy lost $3.76 billion after
then-Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016 signed House Bill 2 that banned transgender people from
using public bathrooms consistent with their gender identity and banned municipalities
from enacting LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination measures.
“We are convinced it will result in lost tourism business for Bermuda,” said the
Bermuda Tourism Authority in its letter.
Advocates in Bermuda and around the world have urged Gov. John Rankin to refuse
to sign the bill. A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office has said the issue is “a
matter” for the Bermuda government.
More than 60 percent of Bermuda voters in 2016 rejected marriage and civil unions
More than 70 members of Congress have urged Vice President MIKE PENCE to raise Egypt’s
anti-LGBT crackdown when he travels to the country. for gays and lesbians in a non-binding referendum. Same-sex couples have nevertheless
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY been able to marry in the territory since Charles-Etta Simmons, a judge on the Bermuda
Supreme Court, ruled in favor of the issue.
Bermuda would become the first government in the world outside the U.S. to rescind
marriage rights for same-sex couples if Rankin signs the bill.
Pence urged to raise anti-LGBT Gay and lesbian couples had already legally married in California when voters in
2008 approved Proposition 8, which banned them from doing so. They were once again
crackdown in Egypt able to legally marry in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 ruled Prop 8
supporters did not have legal standing to appeal previous rulings against them.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Dozens of members of Congress on Monday urged Vice President Mike Pence to raise
Egypt’s anti-LGBT crackdown when he visits the country.
“In recent years, independent civil society groups have been the target of a concerted
government effort to silence their voices and limit their ability to operate,” notes a
letter that U.S. Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Kyrsten Sinema
(D-Ariz.) and 71 others signed. “Minority groups, including religious minorities and the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have been the targets of Philippines president backs same-sex marriage
discrimination and violence. Independent media organizations have been shuttered
and dozens of journalists, bloggers and citizens have been jailed for their speech.” The president of the
Authorities in September arrested at least seven people who waived a rainbow flag Philippines on Sunday said he
during a Cairo concert that featured Mashrou’ Leila, a Lebanese rock band with an supports marriage rights for
openly gay lead singer who publicly advocates for LGBT rights. same-sex couples.
Advocacy groups have said dozens of LGBT Egyptians have been arrested in recent The Philippine Star
months, with authorities forcing many of them to undergo so-called anal tests to newspaper reported Rodrigo
determine whether they engaged in same-sex sexual activity. Egyptian lawmakers in Duterte told members of the
October introduced a bill that would criminalize the country’s LGBT community. LGBT community in Davao City
The lawmakers in their letter specifically ask Pence to tell Egyptian officials that the on the island of Mindanao that
“arrest, harassment and incitement against LGBT individuals inside Egypt must cease he wants same-sex marriage in
immediately, the individuals in detention must be realized and the government should the Philippines, but “we’ll have
oppose any laws that seek to criminalize the speech or activities of the LGBT community.” to change the law.”
They also urge Pence to raise the persecution of journalists, efforts to crackdown on “We can change the law,”
non-governmental organizations and other human rights issues. Duterte reportedly said.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert and House Minority Leader Nancy “If that is the trend of the Philippine President RODRIGO DUTERTE
Pelosi (D-Calif.) are among those who urged the Egyptian government to end its modern times, if that will add PHOTO PUBLIC DOMAIN BY
crackdown. The White House has not publicly commented on it. to your happiness, I am for it,” RYAN LIM OF MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

Pence was scheduled to travel to Egypt and Israel this week. His office on Monday
announced he has postponed the trip until January because of the final vote on the tax bill.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Bermuda authorities defend tourism industry
The CEO of the Bermuda Tourism Authority on Tuesday defended the island territory’s
tourism industry amid growing outrage over a bill that would rescind marriage rights for
same-sex couples.
“Bermuda has a well-earned reputation as a warm, friendly and welcoming
destination,” said Kevin Dallas in a statement the Bermuda Tourism Authority sent to
the Washington Blade. “Out here we believe in the transformative power of travel and
the cultural exchanges it inspires between visitors to a destination and the people who
live there. We hope all travelers to Bermuda, including LGBT visitors, will continue to
believe in and experience this important exchange.”
he added.
The Philippine Star reported
Duterte also said he would name LGBT Filipinos to his Cabinet.
“I don’t have any problem with that,” said Duterte, according to the Philippine
Star. “Now find me the brightest here in the Philippines. Give me a bright person.
He might be gay, he might be lesbian. I’d like to nominate or appoint somebody
upon the nomination.”
Duterte, who is the former mayor of Davao City, has been president of the
Philippines since June 2016.
The State Department last summer criticized Duterte for using an anti-gay slur
to insult then-U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg. Human rights
advocates have sharply criticized Duterte over his ongoing crackdown against
drugs and his alleged ties to “death squads” when he was the mayor of Davao City.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM D E CE MBE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 • 1 7

Sunday , December 24, 2017 • 4pm-5pm

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE
This year Christmas Eve falls on Sunday. In addition to our weekly service at 11am, we’ll also gather again at
4pm to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Join us for this beautiful hour of worship featuring
special elements for children, a reading of the Christmas story, the music of organ and choir, and a Christmas
Eve meditation by Pastor Julie. We’ll conclude the service with the lighting of congregational candles.

1 3 2 8 1 6 T H S T N W, W A S H I N G T O N , D C 2 0 0 3 6 | + 2 0 2 3 8 7 2 2 0 6
www.firstbaptistdc.org
 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

18 • DE C E M B E R 22, 201 7 H E A LT H N E W S

LGB teens more suicidal: study

NEW YORK — LGB teens are more likely to plan or commit suicide according to
research published this week in the journal JAMA, CNN and other outlets report. 
Looking at answers in the 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey in the U.S.,
researchers found that 40 percent of high school students who are considered
sexual minorities were seriously considering suicide, CNN reports. 
Transgender teens were not included in the U.S. government’s survey, but
research has shown that transgender youth may face a similarly high, if not
higher, suicide risk.
The survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
looked at a nationally representative sample of 15,624 students across the
country in that were in grades 9-12 (typically 14-18 years old).
Of the sexual minorities in the study, 34.9 percent were planning suicide
and 24.9 percent had attempted suicide in the previous year. Compared with
heterosexual teens, those numbers are exceptionally high: Of the straight teens
in the study, 14.8 percent had seriously considered suicide, 11.9 percent had
been planning suicide, and 6.3 percent had made an attempt in the past year,
CNN reports. 
The children who were bisexual faced the greatest suicide risk; 46 percent had
considered suicide in the past year. Bisexual girls were the most vulnerable, with
nearly 48 percent saying they had considered taking their own lives, CNN reports. 
Girls who identify as lesbian also had higher rates. More than 40 percent said
they seriously considered suicide in the past year; in comparison, 19.6 percent
of girls who considered themselves heterosexual said they had seriously
considered suicide in the past year. Of boys who identify as gay, 25.5 percent
had, CNN reports. 
Past research has noted the higher suicide risks for these groups, but much
of that work comes from either regional surveys or young people surveyed who
did not comprise a general sample, CNN reports. 
This research is one of the first nationally available estimates representing the
general population, and it documents how LGB teens’ experience with suicide is
PFLAG promotes the equality and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, different from that of other youth.
Research has shown that LGB students have fewer suicide rates when their
and transgendered persons, their families and friends through: schools have gay/straight alliances, CNN reports. 
• Support to cope with an adverse society.
• Education to enlighten an ill-informed public.
• Advocacy to end discrimination and secure equal civil rights.
Gays less likely to report good sleep: study
Trained facilitators lead the Arlington Support Group and confidentiality is maintained. For ATLANTA — Gay people are more likely to experience trouble sleeping, new
further information about the Arlington Support Group, contact us at arl.pflag@gmail.com. research finds according to the Daily Mail. 
Gay men are significantly more likely to have trouble falling asleep, require
Our groups meet on the second Sunday of each month, from 3 – 4:30pm at the Unitarian medication to overcome insomnia or wake feeling unrested compared to
Universalist Church in Arlington, at George Mason Drive & Route 50. straight or bisexual males, a study published in the journal Sleep Health finds. 
Lesbians are more at risk of struggling to fall or stay asleep, needing anti-
A.L.Y. is a group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning Youth and Allies in
insomnia drugs to help them nod off and feeling they need more shut eye in the
grades 7-12. Our goal is to give LGBTQ youth a safe place to gather. Trained facilitators lead the morning, the research adds.
youth group. Confidentiality maintained. For more info, contact: aly.pflagdc@gmail.com. Previous findings reveal gay or bisexual people are more likely to smoke and
Our Washington DC Chapter of PFLAG may be reached at 202-638-3852. suff er severe psychological stress, both of which disturb sleep, the Daily Mail reports.
Over a year, up to 40 percent of U.S. citizens report suffering from
insomnia.  Long term lack of sleep has been linked to poor heart health,
ADVERTISING PROOF
depression and an increased risk of early death.

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L L a B o r at i o N Survey between 2013-2015, the Daily Mail reports. The study’s participants were
omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is
GN responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users asked how many hour sleeps they get on average in a 24-hour period. 
EVISIONS can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any This was then compared to the National Sleep Foundation’s recommendations
/LOGO REVISIONS copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair

competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation,
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to placement,
payment and insertion schedule.
or staying asleep, had used insomnia medication or woken feeling unrested at
least four times in the past week. Their sexual orientation was also noted, the
Daily Mail reports. 
Results reveal gay men are significantly more likely to have trouble falling
asleep, require medication to overcome insomnia or wake feeling unrested

Silber, Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A.

compared to straight or bisexual males, the Daily Mail reports. Lesbians are
more likely to struggle to fall or stay asleep, need anti-insomnia drugs to help
at tor N e YS at L aw • d C | m d | va them nod off and feel poorly rested in the morning.
Bisexual women are more at-risk of having difficulty falling and staying asleep
3 0 1 . 8 9 1 . 2 2 0 0 • S P - L aw. C o m compared to straight females, the Daily Mail reports.
6 9 3 0 C a r r o L L av e , S u i t e 6 1 0 • ta k o m a Pa r k m d
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

F I T NES S DE C E M B E R 22, 2017 • 19

Training on the go part two

Get a little creative and you’ll
enhance your travel experience
3511 Falls Road/Hampden
We all love to travel. It’s You will love this cute rowhouse in one of
exhilarating to see the sights, to the city’s hottest neighborhoods. Hampden
eat great food, to learn about is happenin’! Two bedrooms, one bath with
new cultures and meet people modern kitchen and bath, central air, off-
street parking, and a great room overlooking
from around the world. But when
the back deck and large yard.
we travel, we seem to lose all
semblance of discipline, self-control
Located across the street from Roosevelt
DAVID MAGIDA is founder of Elevate Interval Fit-
and routine. Park, you’re just around the corner from
ness, a member of the Reebok Spartan Race Pro While we normally put a huge “The Avenue,” with its funky mix of shops
Team and author of “The Essentials of Obstacle emphasis on exercise and nutrition,
Racing: A Beginner’s Guide.” You can catch a class and restaurants. There’s no better location
with him at Elevate on 14th Street or at its new once we go abroad we feel like we for Honfest or the Mayor’s Christmas Parade.
location in the Mosaic District in Fairfax, Va. have carte blanche to eat whatever
we want and neglect our training. Positioned well below the price of newly
This is not the first time I’ve written about this issue, not because it’s a crisis but renovated Hampden homes, you’ll love the
because there are so many solutions to allow you to damage control your time affordable entry price into this great area!
away from your routine. Finding innovative ways to burn calories and limit your Come see! Only $194,000!
food intake will allow you to travel guilt free. Below are a few more ways you can
stay fit and establish routine on the road.
Plan exercise before or after your flight: This seems easy enough, but I
generally hop on about four flights per month and never fly without jumping
into a workout or taking a run before or after I land. It is one of the mandatory
elements of my traveling routine. I feel better on a plane when getting some
exercise in because I feel less like a caged butterfly and don’t have a ton of pent-
up energy. It also allows you to fly guilt free and not worry about whether or not
you will get your training session in that day. You’ll probably sleep better on the
flight as well. And of course, stretch before and after your flight as well.
If you opt to exercise after you land there are a number of additional benefits
including:
Resetting your clock: When you change time zones on a flight, it can leave
you jet lagged and exhausted. This can lead to more time sleeping over the next
few days, less sightseeing and less exercise. The secret to avoid jet lag? Skip the
nap and immediately exercise. It takes a bit of mental toughness to commit to
the workout after a cross-country or international flight, but I’ve found it’s like
hitting the reset button. I regularly fly red-eyes from the west coast and land in
Christmas Eve Services
the D.C. area between 6-9 a.m.
The common advice is to avoid sleeping until at least 9 p.m. to reset your
body clock. But the workout provides an additional reset. You start feeling better
9:00 AM Gospel Worship
within the first 10 minutes of your workout. The post workout shower is icing on
Gospel choir, hymns, and inspiring worship experience
the cake, re-establishing your routine and enabling you to conquer your day and
stay up much longer than you intended. You can then go to bed at a normal hour
and wake up on schedule with your current time zone. 11:15 AM Traditional Worship
Bring your running shoes: You could never convince me there’s a better way
to get to know a new city than to run it. You learn the roads around your hotel
Chancel choir, hymns, and featuring the Monumental Brass Quintet
quickly, get an opportunity to scope out some good tourist spots and even get a
preview of what restaurants you may want to eat at that night. It allows you to
get photos of a bunch of iconic tourist attractions quickly, all while getting your 6:00 PM Children’s Pageant
workout in. The beauty of running is you can do it anywhere. All you need is
clothes and shoes. And set off on your run with a goal: An amount of time you’ll
Designed for families and children: every child will have the
run for, a number of sights you’ll see or simply to run to the highest point in the opportunity to play a special part in the pageant.
city. It can be exciting to experience somewhere new that way.
Plan an outdoor adventure: It doesn’t need to feel like a workout for it to
be exercise. Plan some days, or at least partial days, into your trip that are non-
sedentary. Go for a hike, take a walking tour, rent bikes for the day or even book
8:00 PM Lessons, Carols, & Candlelight
an adventure like rock climbing, rafting or something else exciting. Again, you’ll Traditional celebration featuring beautiful music,
hit two birds with one stone, and you’ll have a memorable experience. These
scriptural readings, and a Christmas Eve homily
days are often the most rewarding experiences on a trip and they allow you to
really appreciate your sedentary time as well.
There are literally countless ways to continue to stay fit when traveling. All
you have to do is be disciplined and creative. Being active doesn’t have to be 1500 16th Street NW ~ foundryumc.org
difficult. Find ways to make exercise fun and you’ll be able to travel efficiently A Reconciling Congregation
and guilt free. We welcome everyone!

2 0 • DE CE MB ER 2 2, 2017
Happy holidays
Finding peace and joy in
otherwise trying times
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a longtime LGBT rights
and Democratic Party activist. He writes
regularly for the Blade.
Donald Trump may not like this head-
line but since I don’t know whether you
are Jewish, Christian, Muslim or atheist
saying “Happy holidays” seems the ap-
propriate and courteous thing to do.
I recognize even in this tumultuous
world my life is blessed in so many ways.
I have a roof over my head, food to eat,
clothes to wear, and most of all great
friends. Some of those friends meet each
morning at Java House in Dupont where
we debate the outrages of the previous
day. Most of us live a life of what would be
considered white privilege. We recognize
that and maybe because of it try harder
during the year to make a difference for
others. Lawyers do pro-bono work and
submit amicus briefs to the Supreme
Court to protect the rights of the LGBTQ
community; a professor teaches his stu-
dents about the world so they have the
knowledge to make a difference; environ-
mentalists fight for a real response to cli-
mate change; State Department officials
work, despite the current leadership, for
human rights and to continue to have the
United States hold people responsible for
the war crimes they have committed. To-
gether we marched for science, for equal-
ity, for the environment, for immigration
and continue to support the ‘resistance.’
This year, because the world is in such
turmoil in what is normally a season of
joy and celebration, it’s sometimes hard
to generate that feeling. We have ISIS,
other terrorist groups and individuals
creating chaos around the world and in-
nocent people dying. Refugees are fleeing
from war-torn countries and being turned
away from borders including ours. Know-
ing all this it’s not difficult to believe we
have lost the spirit and will that leads us
to take responsibility for each other. That
previous constant, especially true in this
season, which led us to do everything we
could to make life better for each other.
So to reclaim what should be a season
In these trying times, devote some effort to making life better for someone else this holiday
season.
of peace and joy let’s strengthen the spirit
of giving and sharing just a little more. Let
each of us commit to doing at least one
more thing to make life better for some-
one else. Surely that will give our spirits
a lift. Donate money to an organization
like SMYAL or the Trevor Project; donate
a winter coat to a child who would other-
wise be cold this winter; donate a toy to
Toys for Tots so no child will go without
a gift this season; reach out to a military
family with someone serving who won’t
be home for the holidays this year with
warm thoughts and a big thank you; or
just invite friends and family to enjoy a
meal and donate the equivalent cost of
the meal to an organization like So Oth-
ers Might Eat (SOME). Surely doing one or
more of these things will help reclaim the
spirit of the season.
If enough of us do these things in some
little way we will be countering the ef-
forts of a president and Republican Con-
gress that seem singularly dedicated to
making life worse, instead of better, for
those less fortunate. They seem to get
joy from passing legislation and institut-
ing policies that will hurt the working
poor, minorities, immigrants, women,
and the LGBTQ community. Instead of
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
IN S IDE L G B T W ASH I N G T O N
PHOTO BY BIGSTOCK; COURTESY OF SYNTHETICMESSIAH
trying to make it easier for more people
to vote they work to make it harder. In-
stead of using government to make life
fairer and more equal they use the levers
of power to make it less equal and more
difficult for workers to reach the middle
class. They refuse to pass a timely bill to
extend funding for the Children’s Health
Insurance Program (CHIP) potentially tak-
ing healthcare away from nearly nine mil-
lion children. They keep trying to destroy
healthcare for millions more covered by
the Affordable Care Act whittling away at
it even though they couldn’t pass legisla-
tion to repeal it. They brag about passing
a tax reform package that will hurt the
poor and middle-class and benefit the
rich and corporations threatening to cut
Medicaid and Medicare to pay for it.
So during this holiday season let us each
commit to continue to resist and do so with
actions both large and small as we wish
each other joy and peace. Let’s recommit to
caring for each other and sharing with each
other the bounties we have; knowing that
only by working together will we survive
these difficult times and leave no one be-
hind. From my house to yours in unity may
we find ways to enjoy this holiday season
and spread a little peace and joy.
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V I E W PO I N T
4 ways LGBTQ people can stop Trump
Get educated, angry and
then be the change you seek
By TRISTAN FITZPATRICK
During his campaign, President Trump
sounded like an atypical Republican on LG-
BTQ rights. He said Caitlyn Jenner was free
to use whatever bathroom she wanted to
in Trump Tower. He was the first Repub-
lican nominee to mention “LGBTQ” at a
Republican National Convention. Heck, he
even grabbed a rainbow flag during a cam-
paign rally and traipsed around with it.
But since taking office his administra-
tion’s policies on the subject are deeply
troubling. In nine months, President
Trump wiped away several Obama-era
rules protecting LGBTQ people. Regula-
tions protecting transgender students
and guaranteeing federal employment
protections are gone. He tried banning
transgender people from serving in the
military, and is supporting a Colorado
baker accused of discriminating against a
gay couple.
Just eliminating rules is not enough for
this administration – simply mentioning
O U R B USI NES S MATTERS
Crazy year puts chunks of coal in political stockings
A look back on a tumultuous
time for LGBT business local
and national
MARK LEE is a long-time entrepreneur
and community business advocate. Follow
on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at
OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.
“I am at my wit’s end trying to do
business in this city. Every time we turn
around there is another fee, tax, or ‘pro-
gressive’ move. … [T]here has to be a real
understanding and not just lip service
from our elected officials about the chal-
lenges that small, locally owned business-
es face. … I’ve had it.”
Those were the words from a respect-
ed lesbian retail business owner in D.C. in
my inbox a year ago this week.
It foretold the perspective of small
business owners across the country.
While most LGBT voter tummies were still
tied up in knots over Donald Trump’s win,
sexual identity is far too controversial. The
Department of Health and Human Services
scrubbed questions about it from surveys
and the Census bureau is trying to eliminate
us from the count. In this environment, it’s
easy to feel marginalized and ignored. The
question we need to answer is what can
LGBTQ people do to challenge this admin-
istration’s discriminatory policies?
One is to research LGBTQ history. Know
our past, because without it we are pow-
erless to confront the future. Read books
about LGBTQ history; watch documenta-
ries; learn about inspiring figures from
our community. LGBTQ people stood up
to tyranny before. During the AIDS crisis,
when there was no leadership from the
federal government groups like ACT UP
stepped up to the plate. They were on
the front lines caring for the dying, chang-
ing drug approval processes at the FDA,
and saving untold millions of lives. These
weren’t politicians or officials. They were
ordinary people, fighting for something
they believed in and changing the course
of the epidemic. Knowing our history can
give us comfort and we can be inspired by
it to act today.
The second thing we need to do is get
business owners – including gay entre-
preneurs – welcomed regulatory rollback.
Six months later, both political parties
remained disliked and disdained by most
voters, as affinity and affiliation hit record
lows. Hillary Clinton offered an indirect in-
struction regarding LGBT transition from
renegade to acceptance and assimilation
– a lesson also gleaned from the fate of for-
mer North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.
Late this year, Republican and Demo-
cratic extremist politics produced a re-
cord-setting 61 percent of Americans de-
siring a third political party. The fight for
chair of the Democratic National Commit-
tee only reinforced opinion.
D.C. legislators moved the city’s primary
date while failing to reform an election sys-
tem barring nearly one-in-five registered
voters from participating. This became
more embarrassing when the D.C. Council
moved toward adopting a campaign pub-
lic finance scheme utilizing tax monies.
As evidence began to mount that a
“too-high too-fast” $15 minimum wage
yields net negative results for those most
in need, momentum vaporized in the re-
gion and nationwide.
District politicians came to realize there
is little they can do to affect the local cost
of living and changing composition of res-
angry. This administration’s policies on
LGBTQ rights are not what the country
wants. In 2016, 63 percent of Americans
said homosexuality should be accepted
by society. Fifty-one percent of Americans
favor allowing transgender people to use
public restrooms. It is clear today a major-
ity of Americans favor LGBTQ rights. The
actions of the Trump administration are
responding to a minority of Americans.
Have pride in that fact. Be angry about it.
Register your discontent with your con-
gresspersons, with your local officials,
write letters, make phone calls, join LG-
BTQ groups, take to the street.
The third thing we need to do is be
there for our friends and our community.
LGBTQ people are almost three times
more likely to experience a mental health
condition compared with the non-LGBTQ
population. Sexual minorities are also at
a higher risk for substance abuse issues.  and in a hard-fought campaign won his
We have to look out for one another.
The last, but certainly not least, thing
we need to do is be the change that we
seek. The world of state and local politics
may not be as glamorous as presidential
politics but these laboratories of democ-
racy are where anti-LGBTQ politicians do
idents. One way to mitigate those costs,
however, is to encourage new market-
rate housing that keeps pace with popu-
lation growth – as proven in D.C.
Locally significant was that “always-tax-
and-spend-more” special interest groups
failed to postpone or halt tax cuts for District
businesses and residents. Even that only re-
duced the local business tax rate from third-
worst nationwide to still among the highest.
In a small measure of temporary relief
for local enterprise, D.C. Council Chair
Phil Mendelson instructed colleagues to
postpone any new business burdens or
mandates until 2019. District employers
were still reeling from approval last De-
cember of a paid leave mandate to be
financed by business tax rather than em-
ployee withholding as in the handful of
states with such a law.
Although Mayor Bowser did not veto
the paid leave bill but allowed it to be-
come law without signing it, her concerns
did prompt fiscally astute Council mem-
bers to propose multiple revisions to the
funding and administration of the law.
District employers have taken comfort
in the currently continuing re-evaluation
for next-decade implementation. Bowser,
meanwhile, appears headed toward an
easy, perhaps uncontested, re-election.
D E CE MBE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 • 2 1
most of their work. This year alone, the
Human Rights Campaign tracked more
than 100 anti-LGBTQ bills in 29 states.
Most will not become law but chances are
that some of them will.
How can you stop that? By getting in-
volved and paying attention to state and
local politics. Find out who is running
for lower-profile seats, like alderman, or
school board because these officials hold
real power over our communities. They’re
often the ones you can count on to run the
city library and the fire department; you
might have more interactions with state
and local officials than with federal ones.
If you don’t like your representation, con-
sider running for office and replacing them,
like Danica Roem. Her former state repre-
sentative in Virginia wrote a discriminatory
bathroom bill. Instead of waiting for some-
one to challenge him, Danica did it herself
seat. She took matters into her own hands,
said enough is enough, and became the
change she wanted to see. Each of us has
that ability, too. So why not get started im-
mediately, before it’s too late?
TRISTAN FITZPATRICK is a D.C.- based writer. 
There was continued growth in lo-
cal hospitality establishments, primarily
among bars during the past decade. The
significance of the nighttime economy to
the city’s financial vitality and cultural vi-
brancy prompted a current proposal to
establish a D.C. Office of Nightlife.
A stupefying effort by Dupont Circle
NIMBYs to deny a neighborhood Safeway
beer and wine sales was unsuccessful. Da-
cha Beer Garden’s application for a new
venue on 14th Street was approved, but
with a surprising restriction on number of
patrons while rejecting opponent regula-
tory objections. The gay co-owners have
not indicated whether the occupancy limit
will scuttle plans to construct a $3 million
mostly-indoor venue on the now-vacant
site, but last week they filed to increase
the allowable number of guests. The D.C.
Council quickly approved allowing dogs on
bar and restaurant patios following public
outcry over sudden agency prohibition.
Among the most read-and-discussed
publication content were columns on “No
Justice No Pride” attacks on the annual
Pride celebration over business support
the organizer of the first event in 1975
called a sign of progress.
Watch for more anti-business craziness
in the coming year!
2 2 • DE CE MB ER 2 2, 2017 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT • WASHINGTONBLADE.COM • VOLUME 48 • ISSUE 51 • DECEMBER 22, 2017 • PAGE 23

This year’s holiday-themed albums are a mixed bag. Kaskade has one of the best; many others will have limited appeal beyond the various acts’ core fan base.

Christmas musical magic? 

Stefani, Fantasia tackle classics and originals on new albums

By CHRIS GERARD

Every holiday season, shoppers are
inundated with a seemingly endless
choice of festive new musical offerings to
add to the family’s traditional repertoire.
This year is no exception with multiple
new releases that cater to just about
every style imaginable. We’ve examined
10 of the most prominent new holiday
offerings and ranked them in descending
order as most to least essential new
additions to your holiday music library.  the vocalists he brings in keep with the
NO. 1. KASKADE ‘KASKADE CHRISTMAS’
The Chicago-based EDM titan Kaskade
might seen an odd choice to create a
Christmas album, but he delivered a
surefire winner, easily the must-own
holiday album of the 2017 season.
“Kaskade Christmas” is made for adding
to that holiday party mix, elegant, festive
and uber-cool. Kaskade’s electronic
rhythms are stripped-down and painted
with Christmasy touches throughout and
chilly minimalism that is a nice contrast
to the often over-the-top boisterousness
of a typical holiday album. Two
particular standouts are classic ballads:
“Silent Night” features a sweet vocal
performance by Ilsey, and “Holy Night”
is Christmas cool, a seamless blend of
the traditional and modern. This album
was obviously a labor of love for Kaskade
and he’s created the essential holiday
soundtrack for those classier and elegant
gatherings where you want holiday, but
not anything close to the crap that blares
over department store speakers. 
2. GWEN STEFANI ‘YOU MAKE IT FEEL
LIKE CHRISTMAS’
Gwen Stefani produced energetic ska/
rock during her earlier days with No Doubt
and then managed the transition to Top 40
dance/pop solo star. For her first holiday
album, “You Make it Feel Like Christmas,”
Stefani takes on the role that she’s always
managed to fill no matter what style
she’s singing: entertainer. “You Make it
Feel Like Christmas” is a glossy frivolity,
CONTINUES ON PAGE 32
 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 4 • DE CE MB ER 2 2, 2017 O U T &A BO U T

The Machado touch

Queer author draws
raves for debut short
story collection
By KATHI WOLFE

All fiction writers need imagination.

Carmen Maria Machado’s is so vivid, she
sometimes passes it on to her characters.
“Sometimes I sat on the porch and
gave imaginary interviews to NPR
personalities,” says the narrator of “The
Resident,” a short story in Machado’s
debut collection “Her Body and Other
Parties.” “”When I write, I feel like I’m
being hypnotized,’ I told Terry Gross. ‘It
was at that moment I knew everything
was going to change,’ I told Ira Glass.’”
For most writers, such daydreams
remain mere fantasies. Few authors
become literary superstars or suddenly
find themselves under the spotlight
on NPR. Yet this is what happened to
Machado, a 31-year-old queer writer.
Her short story collection “Her Body
and Other Parties” (Graywolf Press),
released in October, has received the
attention usually bestowed on the work
of literary giants such as Toni Morrison
or Michael Cunningham. “Parties” was a
finalist for the National Book Award, the
Kirkus Prize and the National Book Critics
Circle’s John Leonard Prize. It won the
Bard Fiction Prize. It’s her first full-length
work though she has had many of her
stories published in various outlets.
“Parties” is unlike any previous short
story collection. Women’s bodies,
queerness and feminism pulsate through
the tales in “Parties” from “Inventory” to
“Difficult at Parties.” Yet the book isn’t
didactic or the least bit doctrinaire. Like
the horror movie “Get Out,” the stories
pop with horror and comedy.
Women have joyous sex, even as
people die worldwide from a virus spread
by physical contact. A sexual assault
survivor hears the inner thoughts of
characters in porn. A novella “Especially
Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order:
SVU,” is a piercing, but hilarious send up
of “Law & Order: SVU” and its fascination
with sexually traumatized women.
“The collection is that hallowed thing:
an example of almost preposterous
talent,” the Los Angeles Times said of
“Her Body and Other Parties,” “that
also encapsulates something vital but
previously diffuse about the moment.”
Storytelling, Machado says during a
Blade phone interview, is part of her
family tradition. Her paternal grandfather
came to the U.S. from Cuba; his wife was
Author CARMEN MARIA MACHADO says her love of reading and the storytelling tradition of her family deeply inform her work.
from Austria. They met as immigrants in
New York. Her mother’s family is white.
“Storytelling, especially on the Cuban side
of the family, is important,” Machado, an
Allentown, Pa., native who now lives with her
wife Val in Philadelphia, says. “My grandfather
has dementia, but we can still recite stories
back to him and he remembers.”
She incorporates that oral storytelling
tradition in her work. Her love of reading
and writing, as one might imagine, has
deep roots.
As a child, Machado read voraciously.
She went to the library and devoured
books like candy, reading at breakneck
speed, she says.
“All kids write stories. I wrote them and
typed them out. I always loved the idea of
being a writer.”
Machado sent her stories to publishers
and authors. Her letters yielded no
publishing offers, but, “my wife who
works in publishing says that some
delighted interns at the publishing
houses must have loved my letters.”
To her surprise and delight, Machado
heard back from Livia Bitton-Jackson,
a Holocaust survivor and author of the
memoir “I Have Lived a Thousand Years:
Growing Up in the Holocaust.”
“In the book, Bitton-Jackson talked
about how the poems she wrote were
left behind when she was taken by the
Nazis,” she says. “I wrote to her and asked
what happened to her poems. One day,
my mom, who was confused by it, said,
‘There’s a letter for you from Israel.’”
Bitton-Jackson told Machado that she
didn’t get her poems back, but that she’d
kept on writing.
“She asked me about myself,” she says.
“It felt magical that a real person — a
writer — wrote back to me.”
When she was young in the 1990s,
Machado didn’t understand that she
was queer.
“I had crushes on girls, but I didn’t
think of it in that way. I didn’t have any
framework,” she says. “I didn’t know
anyone who was out and queer until I
went to college.”
Machado graduated from American
University in 2008 with a degree in visual
media. During her years in Washington,
she read the Blade as she was coming out.
“I thought, ‘Oh this is who I am,’” she
says. “My parents were pretty chill,
though they were a bit confused because
I was lesbian/bi. They didn’t quite
understand why I would date a guy, but
they were great about it.”
Attitudes about being queer were
different for some of Machado’s
extended family.
“Some of them were very religious,”
she says, “but I didn’t have to deal with
a lot of that kind of nonsense. I feel
extremely lucky.”
PHOTO COURTESY TOM STORM PHOTOGRAPHY
Machado went to college to study
journalism, but quickly realized that
wasn’t what she wanted to do, so she
switched to literature and photography.
“I wanted to get loose with my
sentences,” Machado says. “I didn’t have
the blood thirst, the nose for news, to be
a reporter.”
After graduating, Machado moved to
Berkeley, Calif., working random jobs
during the recession and enduring a
bad break-up, which she says made her
miserable. But she didn’t stop writing. A
creative writing teacher, whom she calls
“a lovely human being,” encouraged her
to keep writing stories.
Her stint at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
from 2010-2012, where she earned a
master’s degree, changed everything
professionally for her.
“Suddenly, I was getting paid to be in
grad school and write,” she says. “I didn’t
have to worry about finding jobs. I had
good health insurance. I could go to
therapy and figure out my aesthetic.”
And, of course, her success with “Her
Body” has helped fuel ongoing efforts.
“House in Indiana,” a memoir about same-
sex domestic violence is due in 2019.
“Same-sex violence isn’t talked about,”
Machado says. “I wanted to talk about it.”
KATHI WOLFE, a writer and a poet, is a regular
contributor to the Blade.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
FI L M
Fun fluff
‘Greatest Showman,’
‘Last Jedi’ entertain
despite deficiencies
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
The big holiday Hollywood releases
are finally here and if they’re not quite
the diamonds you were hoping for, at
least they’re far better than a lump of
cinematic coal.
“The Greatest Showman” is loosely
based on the career of impresario
Phineas Taylor Barnum. Director Michael
Gracey and his talented cast and crew
put on a show that would make Barnum
proud. The vivid cinematography by
Seamus McGarvey and the exquisite
costumes by Ellen Mirojnick capture the
magic of Barnum’s circus and give the
picture an attractive period feel.
The script by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon
is effective and moves things along
effortlessly. The acting is appropriately
vigorous and energetic. Hugh Jackman
is at his most charming as Barnum and
Michelle Williams turns in a lively portrait
of his supportive wife Charity.
With great flair, Zac Efron returns to his
showbiz roots as Barnum’s junior partner
Phillip Carlyle whose romance with
trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (the terrific
Zendaya) gives the story much of its
emotional heft. The incredible Zendaya
proves she’s a true triple threat.
As Barnum’s bearded lady Lettie Lutz,
Keala Settle nearly steals the show from
her formidable castmates. Her powerful
voice, slick dance moves and rousing
performance make her the fierce heart
of the movie.
The real star of the movie, however,
is the stunning choreography by Ashley
Willen. She seamlessly blends the style
of the classic Broadway and Hollywood
musicals with contemporary dance
moves in a way that is continually fresh
and surprising. To pick just one number,
the amazing airborne ballet “Rewrite the
Stars” for Zendaya and Efron, turns the
trapeze into a powerful visual metaphor
for their relationship.
Unfortunately, her dazzling
choreography unwittingly highlights the
weakest part of the movie, the terrible
songs with music by John Debney and
Joseph Trapanese and lyrics by Benj
Pasek and Justin Paul. Somehow, Willen
creates emotional spectacles that move
the story forward in fascinating ways
despite the inane, repetitive lyrics and
the indistinguishable melodies she has
to work with. Where Willen gives each of
the leads a distinctive movement style
and creates exciting ensemble numbers,
the songs themselves blur into a muddy
overproduced mess.
DE C E M B E R 22, 2017 • 25
PHOTO COURTESY 20TH CENTURY FOX
HUGH JACKMAN brings charm, presence to his
rule as Phineas Taylor Barnum in ‘The Greatest
Showman.’
“Star Wars: the Last Jedi,” the second
movie of the third “Star Wars” trilogy,
suffers from a bad case of middle movie
syndrome. There are some great moments,
but it’s really just filling the space between
Episode VII and Episode IX.
Writer/director Rian Johnson is at his
best in intimate character-driven scenes
where he brings a surprising and delightful
amount of charm and wit to the larger-than-
life space opera. With glorious support from
John Williams’ amazing score and its well-
“
known leitmotifs, Johnson creates deep
emotional bonds between the characters
I like staying in shape, listening to
that ground the epic saga in mythic family Adele, and shopping in Friendship
dynamics. Johnson and editor Bob Duscay Heights with my mom and sisters.
frequently use crisp cuts between scenes
to effectively show the Force in action and
to draw interesting connections between
characters and themes.
Unfortunately, Johnson’s complicated
storyline bogs down the action. There’s I’m a
a lot of plot; the screenplay should have
been streamlined and the two-and-a-half- transgender woman
hour movie would benefit from a much
shorter run time. The lead characters
and I’m part of DC.
go running off in different directions
and it’s often hard to keep of where the
characters are and why they’re there.
The acting is strong. In what was sadly Please treat me the way any ADVERTISING
her last performance, Carrie
PROOF # Fisher is ISSUE DATEwoman would want SALES to be treated:
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both commanding and deeply vulnerable with courtesy and respect.
REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of
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REVISIONS the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts
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omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is
responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users
layered performances, as TEXT do returning
can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
REVISIONS If you
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and warranties.
course, back. They are joined by new
creatures, the shimmering crystal foxes
and the cute but pointless porgs (now
OFFICE OF
GLBT
AFFAIRS
available in stores everywhere). The
human actors are joined two fierce female
warriors: Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Holdo)
and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose), as well as
Benecio Del Toro as a cynical codebreaker. Show your support! Spread word of the #TransRespect
campaign by photographing this ad and sharing on Twitter.
� CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 6 • DECE MB ER 2 2, 2017
This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com
DANCE
Kwanzaa Celebration with Mevlin
Deal African Heritage Drummers
and Dancers. Dec 27. Smithsonian
Anacostia Museum. anacostia.si.edu.
Step Afrika!’s Magical Musical
Holiday Step Show. Thru Dec 30. Step
Afrika! at Atlas. stepafrika.org.
MUSIC
Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming. Thru
Dec 23. Folger Consort. Folger Theatre.
folger.edu.
Christmas with Choral Arts. Thru
Dec 24. Choral Arts Society. Kennedy
Les Misérables Center. choralarts.org.
Thru Jan 7. National Theatre. Encore Chorale. Dec 22. Beltway
thenationaldc.org. Brass Quintet. Dec 24. All-Star
Cameron Mackintosh presents the new production of Alain Boublil and Claude- Christmas Day Jazz Jam. Dec 25.
Michel Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Misérables. Gaiteros de Sanguashington. Dec 26.
With its glorious new staging and dazzlingly reimagined scenery inspired by Run Come See. Dec 27. Millennium
the paintings of Victor Hugo, this breathtaking new production has left both Stage. Kennedy Center.
audiences and critics awestruck. kennedy-center.org.
A Candlelight Christmas
Thru Dec 22. The Washington Chorus at The Kennedy Center.
MUSEUMS
thewashingtonchorus.org. Folger Shakespeare Library. Painting
Featuring brass, organ, sing-alongs, and the magnificent Candlelight Processional, Shakespeare. Thru Feb 11. folger.edu.
A Candlelight Christmas includes your favorite songs such as The Dream Isaiah National Archives. Remembering
Saw, Hallelujah Chorus and more Christmas favorites to fall in love with. Vietnam. Thru Jan 6.
archivesfoundation.org.
Draw the Circle Dumbarton Oaks. Highlights from the
Thru Dec 24. Mosaic Theater Company at Atlas. Dumbarton Oaks Rare Book Collection.
mosaictheater.org. Thru Jan 1. Ancient Textiles. Thru
Gender transition can be a test for any household—but when Mashuq Mushtaq Mar 31. Women in Art. Thru Mar 31.
Deen comes out to his conservative Muslim family, traditional values and Western Ancient Bronzes in the Dumbarton
ideals collide in a hilarious and moving immigration journey unlike any other. Oaks Collections. Thru Mar 31.
Collecting in Paris and London, 1912–
Wolf Kahn: Density and Transparency in Monotypes 1919. Thru Mar 31. doaks.org.
Thru Jan 6. gallery Neptune & Brown. Kreeger Museum. Reinstallation of
galleryneptunebrown.com. the Permanent Collection. Thru Dec 31.
Kahn’s monotypes make use of the contrast between transparent ink washes kreegermuseum.org.
and dark ink drawing, reflecting an instinctive understanding of line and an Library of Congress. Drawing Justice:
ever-evolving mastery of color and light. The Art of Courtroom Illustration.
Thru Jan 31. Echoes of the Great War:
PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL THEATRE
American Experiences of World War I.
Thru Jan 1. loc.gov.
National Gallery of Art. In the Library:
Jost Amman and Sixteenth-Century
THEATRE Studio Theatre. studiotheatre.org.
The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Thru Dec
Woodcut Illustration. Thru Jan 4. Bosch
to Bloemaert: Early Netherlandish
Crazy For You. Thru Jan 14. Signature 31. Theater J. theaterj.org. Drawings from the Museum Boijmans
Theatre. sigtheatre.org. The Second City Presents Nothing to van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Thru Jan
The Second City’s Twist Your Lose (But Our Chains). Thru Dec 31. 7. Vermeer and the Masters of Genre
Dickens. Thru Dec 31. An American in Woolly Mammoth. Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry.
Paris. Thru Jan 7. The Illusionists. Dec woollymammoth.net. Thru Jan 21. Edvard Munch: Color
27-Jan 7. Kennedy Center. The Real Americans. Thru Dec 22. in Context. Thru Jan 28. Posing for
kennedy-center.org. Mosaic Theater Company. Atlas. the Camera: Gifts from Robert B.
A Christmas Carol. Thru Dec 31. mosaictheater.org. Menschel. Thru Jan 28. In the Tower:
Ford’s Theatre. fords.org. Chinese Menu: Home for the Anne Truitt. Thru Apr 1. Jackson
An Irish Carol. Thru Dec 31. Keegan Holidays. Dec 23. DC Arts Center Pollock’s ‘Mural’. Thru Oct 28. nga.gov.
Theatre. keegantheatre.com. (DCAC). dcartscenter.org. National Geographic. Wild: Michael
A Christmas Carol. Thru Dec 24. Gary Vider. Dec 28. Millennium Stage. Nichols. Thru Jan 12. Tomb of Christ.
Annie. Thru Dec 31. Olney Theatre. kennedy-center.org. Thru Aug 15. nglive.org.
olneytheatre.org. National Museum of Women in the
Curve of Departure. Thru Jan 7. Arts. Inside the Dinner Party Studio.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A RT S & CU LT U RE
Thru Jan 5. Magnetic Fields: Expanding
American Abstraction, 1960s to Today.
Thru Jan 21. nmwa.org.
Smithsonian Anacostia Museum.
Gateways/Portales. Thru Jan 7.
anacostia.si.edu.
National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian. The Face of Battle:
Americans at War, 9/11 to Now. Thru
Jan 28. Marlene Dietrich: Dressed
for the Image. Thru Apr 15. One Life:
Sylvia Plath. Thru May 20. Antebellum
Portraits by Mathew Brady. Thru Jun
3. The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying
American Workers. Thru Sep 3.
National Portrait Gallery - Recent
Acquisitions. Thru Nov 4. Portraits of
the World: Switzerland. Thru Nov 12.
Celebrating Fifty Years. Thru Jan 6.
Lincoln’s Contemporaries. Thru May
19. npg.si.edu.
Woodrow Wilson House. The Ghost
Fleet of Mallows Bay. Thru Feb 28.
woodrowwilsonhouse.org.
GALLERIES
District Architecture Center. The
AIA|DC 2017 Awards Show. Thru Jan 26.
aiadac.com.
Glen Echo Park. Holiday Art Show and
Sale. Thru Jan 7. glenechopark.org.
Goethe. Exhibition: German Jazz
(Deutscher Jazz). Thru Jan 26.
goethe.de.
Hill Center. Karin Edgett: Truth. Thru
Dec 30. Michael Ford: HOMEPLACE.
Thru Dec 30. Joanathan Bessaci:
Maps. Thru Dec 30. Scott Warren:
World Views. Thru Dec 30. Judith Peck:
Gathering Shards. Thru Dec 30. Rachael
Bohlander: Art of Empowerment. Thru
Dec 30. hillcenterdc.org.
JCCNV. Charitable Art | Omanoot
L’Tzedakah. Thru Jan 25. jccnv.org.
Korean Cultural Center DC. Two
Reflections: Korean and American
Artists Confront Humanity and Nature.
Thru Jan 24. koreaculturedc.org.
Montpelier Arts Center. Portraits of
US. Thru Dec 31. Chloe Irla: Year One.
Thru Dec 31. Sushama Parikh. Thru Dec
31. arts.pgparks.com.
Publick Playhouse. Michael Moses.
Thru Jan 19. arts.pgparks.com.
Reston Community Center. Far
East Echoes: Broad Brushstrokes
and Loving Details. Thru Jan 4.
restoncommunitycenter.com.
The Art League. Petite December. Thru
Jan 7. Darryl Halbrooks: Natura Morta.
Thru Jan 8. theartleague.org.
Waverly Street Gallery. Holiday Art
Show! Thru Jan 6.
waverlystreetgallery.com.
Zenith Sculpture Space. Black Artists
of Today: Reinventing Tomorrow! Thru
Jan 6. zenithgallery.com.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
O UT&A B O UT
Christmas and
Kwanzaa events
LGBT-affirming D.C.
churches, centers
welcome worshipers
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com
Christmas Eve
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Rock
Creek Park (Rock Creek Church Rd. and
Webster St., N.W.) holds a Christmas Eve
service today from 5-8 p.m. For details,
visit stpaulsrockcreek.org.
St. Thomas’ Parish and St. Margaret’s
Episcopal Church (1830 Connecticut
Ave., N.W.) celebrate the Festive Holy
Eucharist tonight from 11 p.m.-midnight.
Rev. Alex Dyer will give the sermon. The
service will feature special music. For
more details, visit stmargaretsdc.org.
Dumbarton United Methodist
Church (3133 Dumbarton St., N.W.)
has a Christmas Eve worship service
at 6:30 p.m. There will be a children’s
Christmas pageant, special Christmas
music, blessing of children, carols and
candlelight. For more information, visit
dumbartonumc.org.
National City Christian Church (5
Thomas Circle, N.W.) holds a candlelight
community worship service with prelude
music at 7 p.m. For more information,
visit nationalcitycc.org.
Seekers Church (276 Carroll St., N.W.)
celebrates Christmas Eve with a dinner
from 6-7 p.m. followed by a service
of lessons and carols from 7:30-8:30
p.m. The service will feature homilist
David Llyod. For more details, visit
seekerschurch.org.
The Christ Church on Capitol Hill
(620 G St., S.E.) has events and services
throughout the day and night. At 4:30
p.m., the church hosts its “Come as
you are” family service which features
an informal pick-up pageant, carols,
children’s message and communion.
A formal family service follows at 6:30
p.m. with a Christmas pageant, homily,
carols, communion and music from the
St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. At 10
p.m. there will be a choral prelude with
the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. They
will be joined by the Christ Church choir.
The Festival Eucharist follows at 10:30
p.m. with a candlelit sanctuary, sermon,
communion, carols and music from the
St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. The final
event is the festive reception at 11:30
p.m. Attendees are asked to bring food
and drink to share. For more information,
visit washingtonparish.org.
Unity Fellowship Church (474 Ridge
St., N.W.) has a Christmas Eve service
DE C E M B E R 22, 2017 • 27 Apply for Discounts on Your Utility Bills
Discounts are Subject to Income Eligibility Requirements
- Apply for Discounted Rates on -
Telephone Electric
Lifeline Program (Economy II) Residential Aid Discount (RAD) Program
from 3-5 p.m. Annual discount on one
Potential savings are
Foundry United Methodist Church
land line service per between $300-$475
(1500 16th St., N.W.) holds a children’s
household. annually.
Christmas Eve service today from 6-7
p.m. followed by a Candlelight Christmas
Eve Service from 8-9 p.m. For more
information, visit foundryumc.org. Natural Gas Water
Metropolitan Community Church of Residential Essential Service (RES) Program Customer Assistance Program (CAP)
Washington (474 Ridge St., N.W.) has a Potential savings up to Potential discount
Christmas Eve service from 7-8 p.m. For $276 during the winter could be over $450
more details, visit mccdc.com. heating season. annually.
Saint John’s Episcopal Church (1525 H
St., N.W.) has Christmas Eve services from
4:30-11 p.m. At 4:30 p.m. there will be
carols and anthems followed by a pageant
and the Choral Holy Eucharist at 5 p.m. At
7 p.m. there will be carols and anthems
For more info call 311 or visit doee.dc.gov/udp
with the Festival Eucharist starting at 7:30 To apply for the telephone Lifeline Service (Economy II), call 800-253-0846.
p.m. The last service of the night kicks off
with carols and anthems at 10:30 p.m. These programs are for DC residents only.
and then Festival Eucharist at 11 p.m. For
more details, visit stjohns-dc.org.
Christmas Day
Washington National Cathedral
(3101 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) holds its
Christmas Day Holy Eucharist at 11:15
a.m. featuring scripture, season choral
performance, instrumental music and
hymns. Passes are not required. At 1:30
p.m. there will be a Christmas Day organ
recital featuring organists Rev. Benjamin
Pearce and George Fergus. There is a
$10 recommended donation. For more
information, visit cathedral.org.
St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church
(1830 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) has a
Christmas Day service with the Holy
Eucharist from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. For more
details, visit stmargaretsdc.org.
Kwanzaa
Smithsonian’s Anacostia
Community Museum hosts a Kwanzaa
celebration at Fort Stanton Recreation
Center (1812 Erie St., S.E.) on Thursday,
Dec. 27 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Melvin
Deal African Heritage Drummers and
dancers will perform. Admission is free
but registration is required. For more
information, visit anacostia.si.edu.
Kuumba Kids hosts its 48th annual
Kwanzaa Children Party at Panorama OPEN CHRISTMAS
Room (1600 Morris Rd., S.E.) on Friday, Christmas Eve Seatings - 2:30 pm, 5 pm , 7:30 pm
Christmas Day Seatings - 2 pm, 4:30 pm , 7pm
Dec. 29 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. There will
be African dance and drumming classes,
storytelling, face painting, arts and crafts,
CALL FOR RESERVATIONS TODAY!
candle-lighting ceremony, a Karamu
feast and a performance featuring the
M-TH 11:30AM-10PM • F-SAT 11:30AM-11PM
Kuumba Kids, RBG and Imani Steppers.
SUN. BRUNCH 11AM-3PM / DINNER 3-10PM
Admission is free. Every child will receive
a Kwanzaa gift bag with goodies and a
T-shirt. For more details, visit facebook. 322 MASS. AVE. NE • 202.543.7656
com/kuumbakids. CAFEBERLIN-DC.COM

2 8 • DECE MB ER 2 2, 2017 Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R MA RT Y BRO W N
MARTY BROWN
How long have you been out and who
was the hardest person to tell?
I’ve been out since 1994. My mom was
the hardest to tell. Although she didn’t
take it well at first, she’s supportive now.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
Who’s your LGBT hero?
Ellen DeGeneres. She’s handled being
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO the first lesbian celebrity with such style
joeyd@washblade.com and grace and managed to stay positive
and upbeat. Very admirable.
Music is an integral part of the holiday season for many and the Choral Arts
Society of Washington is in the midst of its annual holiday concert series. What’s Washington’s best nightspot,
“As a musician, there’s always such great music to sing and play this time past or present?  It’s about every oppressed minority,
of year,” says Marty Brown, an alto who joined the chorus last year. “I like the Absolutely no idea. I’ve never been
chance to be a bit reflective as we head into the coldest part of the winter.” a nightspot type of person, much
“Christmas with Choral Arts: Songs of the Season” is Sunday, Dec. 24 at preferring quiet dinners with friends.
1 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15-79. Details at  
kennedy-center.org or choralarts.org. Describe your dream wedding.
One of Brown’s favorite pieces in the program is “Fourteen Angels” by Casual, on the beach, barefoot, with
Jeffrey Van in memory of a child who died in infancy. She especially enjoys the friends and family around.
acoustic guitar accompaniment by Michael Bard.  
“It’s really more of a duet between the choir and the guitar,” the 52-year-old What non-LGBT issue are you most
Wilmington, N.C., native says. “It’s lush and soulful.” passionate about?
Brown, who also sings in the smaller Choral Arts Chamber Singers The emotional health of children
choir (about 30 people vs. about 175 in the full choir), says there’s a good — encouraging both boys and girls
representation of LGBT singers in the choir. to embrace the full range of human
“I must say the group has embraced my LGBT-ness wholeheartedly,” she emotion and to pursue whatever they’re
says. “Even allowing me to wear the same uniform as the men since dresses passionate about, regardless of whether
are not my thing.” or not it’s a “girl’s” or “boy’s” activity.
The choir performs mostly classical repertoire although they also do pop
and gospel on various occasions. Brown also plays piano and enjoys playing What historical outcome
for fun in the evenings at home. would you change?
The alto works by day as an IT consultant. She and wife Laura Wisotzkey and son The 2016 presidential election.
Jack live in Kensington, Md., in Garrett Park Estates near the Strathmore. Brown I believe the damage the Trump
enjoys swimming, singing, piano and cooking for her family in her free time.  administration is doing will take us
decades to recover from, if we even can.
 
What’s been the most memorable pop
culture moment of your lifetime?
When the Supreme Court overturned
the Defense of Marriage Act. I remember
walking out of my office building, getting
a text with the news of the decision and
just bursting into happy tears.
 
On what do you insist?
Treating everyone with respect and dignity.
What was your last
Facebook post or Tweet?
A share of an article I wanted my wife
to read entitled “Why Your Grumpy
Teenager Doesn’t Want to Talk to You.”
 
If your life were a book,
202.747.2077 what would the title be?
“She Loved Big”
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
 
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you do?
Work to educate people that it is
unnecessary and harmful to change
sexual orientation.
 
What do you believe in beyond the
physical world? 
Love
 
What’s your advice for LGBT
movement leaders?
not just LGBT folks. Let’s work together
to raise everyone up.
 
What would you walk
across hot coals for?
My family (including my pets and my
family of choice).
 
What LGBT stereotype
annoys you most?
All stereotypes are annoying because
they limit how self-expressed we can
be. The most annoying one is that
LGBT people are somehow a threat to
children, that we’re pedophiles.
 
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?
“Elena Undone”
 
What’s the most overrated social
custom?
Clothing restrictions based on gender.
 
What trophy or prize do you most
covet?
I have the respect and love of my
family and friends and coworkers and
couldn’t ask for more than that.
 
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
That I should just relax because
my life was going to be awesome and
amazing and I had time to learn how to
live my truth.
Why Washington?
It’s a great city with so much to offer
on so many levels, especially culturally. I
love the multi-cultural melting pot that is
D.C. and the perspectives of folks who’ve
lived all over the world. My worldview is
so much richer for having lived in D.C. the
last 20-plus years.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
BO OK S
Time to ‘Tell’
Witt memoir is compelling
account of ‘Don’t Ask’ years
TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been reading
since she was 3 years old. She lives in Wisconsin
with two dogs and 12,000 books. Reach her at
bookwormsez@yahoo.com.
No doubt about it: you know the score.
You’ve known it since the beginning
because you were told, clearly and
unequivocally. There’s no grey area, no
questions to ask. You know what’s up but,
as in the new book “Tell” by Major Margaret
Witt (with Tim Connor), the outcome may
be out of your hands anyhow.
For those who love her, Margie Witt has
always been known as an active, take-
charge, caring person. A tomboy growing
up, she befriended the friendless, got
along with everyone and was a super-
responsible leader. So it was a natural fit
when, in 1987, Witt decided to join the Air
Force, even though she was gay.
But, of course, nobody was supposed
to know that. As an elite member of the
military, Witt fully understood that just
being gay meant a military discharge. By
order, nobody could ask her about that,
though; she, in turn, could not discuss
her sexuality.
Still, because secrets are never totally
secret, Witt was ever-cautious. Fearing
rejection, she hadn’t come out to her
parents or her siblings yet; on the other
hand, close pals knew that Witt was a
lesbian, as did a fellow reservist who’d
defied “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in order to
put his suspicions to rest.
Even Witt’s girlfriend was mum, but there
was trouble on that front: Tiffany desperately
wanted a baby and was pressing, but Witt
was uninterested in parenthood.
With a pregnancy deadline-or-else
ultimatum looming, Witt took solace not
only in her job as a pediatric physical
therapist in Spokane, Wash.,, but also with
her friends in the Air Force Reserve and
her work as a flight nurse. She kept busy,
was sent overseas to the Middle East and
received commendations for saving a life
there. Her knowledge was admired and,
as her relationship crumbled, her natural
sense of humor helped her stay level but
she needed a confidante. Witt turned
to a married-but-“struggling” female
colleague who soon became more than
DE C E M B E R 22, 2017 • 29 琀栀攀
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琀甀攀猀搀愀 礀猀
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昀愀挀攀戀漀漀欀⸀挀漀洀⼀琀栀攀挀爀攀眀挀氀甀戀 ㄀㌀㈀㄀ ㄀㐀琀栀 猀琀 一圀
PHOTO COURTESY FOREEDGE
just a friend with a sympathetic ear.
And in the ensuing “’very, very ugly’”
divorce, in which a soon-to-be-ex-
husband seized upon two women
spending the night together, DADT was
no longer possible.
That, of course, is not the end of what
you’ll learn inside “Tell.” There’s much
more to the story, sometimes too much.
In an oddly appealing third-person
voice, author Witt (with Tim Connor)
starts her tale with a deployment and
moves quickly to a charmingly nostalgic
biography that ultimately loses some of
its charm in an overload of details. There
are a lot of peripheral people in this tale,
the presence of which sometimes feels
more shout-out and less necessity.
Stick around: the details have a shift of
focus about mid-way here, once you get
past the set-up and into the book’s raison
d’être. Things move faster in the re-telling of
the legal aftermath of Witt’s exposure, the
fight for gay rights in the military, and Witt’s
own (mostly)-happily-ever-after. That’s what
makes this slice-of-life history tale one that’s
highly readable and deeply personal.
That’s what makes “Tell” a score.
‘TELL: LOVE, DEFIANCE, AND THE MILITARY
TRIAL AT THE TIPPING POINT FOR GAY
RIGHTS’
By Major Margaret Witt with Tim Connor,
foreword by Colonel Margarethe
Cammermeyer
ForeEdge
$27.95
258 pages

3 0 • DE CE MB ER 2 2, 2017
E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.
com two weeks prior to your event. Space is lim-
ited so priority is given to LGBT-specific events
or those with LGBT participants. Recurring
events must be re-submitted each time.
By MARIAH COOPER
TODAY
Washington Performing Arts
Gospel Choir presents “Go Tell It on the
Mountain,” a Christmas concert, at the
Washington National Cathedral (3101
Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m.
The Washington National Cathedral
Band will accompany the choir for a
performance filled with scripture and
song. Admission is free. For more details,
visit washingtonperformingarts.org.
Miracle on 7th Street (1839 7th St.,
N.W.), a pop-up Christmas bar, runs
through Dec. 31. The bar has been
transformed into a winter wonderland
complete with a toy train that runs
PHOTO BY CAROL ROSEGG; COURTESY FORD’S around the room and a gingerbread
house in the back. There is also a vintage
1890s red sleigh and a 12-foot Christmas
Last call for ‘Christmas Carol’ tree. There is also a “Chinese and a Movie”
room which represents Jewish families
Ford’s Theatre (511 10th St., N.W.) presents the last performance of “A Christmas who eat Chinese takeout on Christmas
Carol” on Sunday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. day. The room includes takeout menus,
The classic Dickens’ tale is reimagined in the music-fused adaptation by Michael red lanterns, menorahs and dreidels. For
Baron. Craig Wallace stars as Ebenezer Scrooge. Other cast members include more information, visit popupbardc.com.
Jonathan Atkinson, Michael Bunce, Rick Hammerly, James Konicek, Eben K. Logan, Amy
McWilliams, among others. SATURDAY, DEC. 23
Tickets range from $50-105. For more details, visit fords.org.
The Arlington Chorale presents a
“Messiah” sing-along at the Kennedy
Center (2700 F St., N.W.) today at 6 p.m.
Conductor Nancia D’Alimonte will lead
the 200-member chorus, guest soloists,
members of the Opera House Orchestra
and the audience. Admission is free
but tickets are required. Tickets will be
distributed starting at 4:30 p.m. in the
Hall of Nations on the day of the show.
For more information, visit kennedy-
center.org.
Capital Life Church and the AMVET
Post 22 sing Christmas carols for
veteran residents of the Washington
D.C. VA Medical Center (50 Irving
St., N.W.) today from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Interested participants are asked to
RSVP on Facebook. For more details, visit
facebook.com/clcoutreach.
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.)
hosts Jox, an underwear party, tonight
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY VALDYSLAV REKHOVSKYY
from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. DJ David Merrill will
play music all night. Clothes check is
available. For more information, visit
Invazion drag show at Black Cat Dec. 30 greenlanterndc.com.
Black Cat (1881 14th St.. N.W.) hosts Invazion, a drag show and dance party, on SUNDAY, DEC. 24
Saturday, Dec. 30 from 9 p.m.-midnight.
Desiree Dik, Sextia N’Eight and Jasmine Tea will perform. Pussy Noir (pictured Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts
above) will also give a guest performance. DJ Teara Newhole Gsus spins tracks for the a Christmas Eve drag brunch today from
night. There will be drink specials and prizes. Show starts at 10 p.m. and an encore 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Shi-Queeta-Lee and her
performance kicks off at 11 p.m. Cover is $5. drag divas will impersonate Diana Ross,
For more information, visit blackcatdc.com. Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, Tina Turner
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
CA LE N D A R/ O U T &A BO U T
and more. There will be a shows at 10:30
a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets are $41.91 and
include an all-you-can-eat buffet. The first
mimosa or bloody Mary is free. For more
details, visit facebook.com/nelliesdc.
MONDAY, DEC. 25
Gaylord National Resort and Convention
Center (201 Waterfront St., National
Harbor, Md.) hosts Rudolph’s Holly Jolly
Breakfast today from 8 a.m.-11 a.m.
Families can enjoy a breakfast buffet, play
reindeer games and participate in a sing-
a-long. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster
and Clarice will make appearances. Adult
tickets (for guests 12 and older) are
$39.99. Child tickets, for guests 4-11 years
old, are $26.99. For more information,
visit gaylordnationaltickets.com.
TUESDAY, DEC. 26
Genderqueer D.C. holds a discussion
group at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St.,
N.W.) at 7 p.m. tonight. The group is for
anyone who identifies outside of the
gender binary as bigender, agender,
genderfluid or any label outside of
cisgender. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27
Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts
Women Crush, a happy hour for LBT and
other female-identifying people, today
from 6-10 p.m. The happy hour will be
holiday-themed. For more details, visit
tradebardc.com.
THURSDAY, DEC. 28
ZooLights is at the Smithsonian’s
National Zoo (3001 Connecticut Ave.,
N.W.) today from 5-9 p.m. The event
includes the Smithsonian’s National
Zoo Choo-Choo, a tour of the zoo on a
trackless train around the Great Cats
exhibit. Guests can also enjoy Snow-less
Tubing and the Speedwell Foundation
Conservation Carousel. There will also
be live performances, food and drink.
Admission is free. The event runs through
Jan. 1. For more details, visit nationalzoo.
si.edu/events/zoolights.
The Lambda Bridge Club meets
tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center
(721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No
reservations required and new comers
welcome. If you need a partner, call 703-
407-6540.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
T H E A TER
‘Curve’ actor Weaks relishes
play’s heavy themes
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
In the superbly acted “Curve of
Departure” now at Studio Theatre, out
actor Justin Weaks plays 20-something
Felix. He and his partner Jackson (played
by Sebastian Arboleda) are in love but
facing challenges. The actors’ portrayal of
the young couple sparks with chemistry
and the feel of authenticity.
“It’s easy to play Sebastian’s boyfriend.
He and I clicked when we first met and
have become close friend,” says Weaks,
27. “We’re often mistaken for boyfriends
when we’re out chillin’.”
Might life be imitating here?
“I’m single,” Weaks says.
Written by Rachel Bonds, the new
work is about family, funerals and an
uncertain future.
“It’s an honest look at the family today,”
Weaks says. “The play breaks open what
family means: It’s not about the same skin
color or the same blood. We create families,
and it’s important to see that on stage.”
The story unfolds in a New Mexico hotel
room over the course of a couple days.
Finding home
From left are SEBASTIAN ARBOLEDA, JUSTIN WEAKS and ORA JONES in ‘Curve of Departure’ at
Studio Theatre.
After his father’s unexpected death, Felix
travels with Jackson from Los Angeles to
Sante Fe for the funeral. Money is tight
so the couple shares a hotel room with
Felix’s mother Linda (Ora Jones) and his
paternal grandfather Rudy (Peter Van
Wagner) who is grappling with dementia
and incontinence. Biracial Felix, his black
mother, and Jewish grandfather are a
diverse group united by familial love and
their dislike for Felix’s dad. Jackson, the
latest addition to the group, is Latino.
“The play deals with heavy themes.
Death and loss,” Weaks says. “There are
intense emotional moments but the play
is also lighthearted. The people are good
people trying to do the right thing in less
than ideal circumstances. But there’s a
lot of hope in the play, and that’s what we
need more of, especially at this time.”
Has Weaks ever played a gay character
before Felix?
“I must have,” he says. “I know I’ve
played characters that I feel are gay but
may not be written explicitly as such. I
draw those conclusions when I explore a
character’s backstory.”
In Mosaic Theatre Company’s “Charm”
about a transgender woman who gives
deportment lessons to underserved LGBT
youth Weaks played Jonelle who presented
as female but identified as heterosexual.
“She was whatever she felt that
particular day. Hers is a complicated
gender identity.”
Weaks began working shortly after
graduating with a theater degree from
Greensboro College in his native North
Carolina in 2012. His first professional gig was
with Olney Theatre Center’s National Players
which required nine months on the road.
In 2015 he become better acquainted
with Washington while playing the title
role in Theater Alliance’s “Dontrell, Who
Kissed the Sea,” a play about a teenager
who must convince his father that he’s
doing the right thing.
“Being here for that show opened
my eyes to what D.C. has to offer for
union and nonunion actors alike, and its
tightknit community of actors.”
But it was Theatre Alliance’s “Word
Becomes Flesh” (an ensemble piece featuring
a series of letters from a father to his unborn
son) that sold Weaks on Washington,
prompting him to make it his home.
“The production changed me a lot in
terms of stories I wanted to tell,” he says.
“I pushed myself and was pushed a great
deal as an actor. It was scary but I knew
D E CE MBE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 • 3 1
PHOTO BY TERESA WOOD
I’d be a better artist for it.”
He collected a Helen Hayes Award for
his efforts.
Weaks is one of the young African-
American openly gay actors working in
D.C. — others include Jon Hudson Odom,
Freddie Bennett and Desmond Bing.
“Being gay isn’t something I run away
from. There’s power in being at the
intersection of black and queer. I have a
responsibility to embrace myself. Being
gay isn’t always on the front burner of my
consciousness, but it definitely informs my
work.”
Growing up, he says he didn’t think
he’d be an actor. He was concerned
about being able to find sustainable
work. But that changed when he saw
other successful actors.
“There’s something about seeing people
like yourself living and thriving,” he says.
“There’s a power in seeing that, especially
in the time we’re living in which makes it
all the more important to be visible.”
‘CURVE OF DEPARTURE’
Through Jan. 14
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St., N.W.
$52-90
202-332-3300
Studiotheatre.org

3 2 • DECE MB ER 0 1, 2017
Sia, Hanson, Alabama deliver mixed results
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
all smiles and cheer, with an engaging
old-school vibe and sparkling vocals.
The songs are mostly standards: “Silent
Night,” “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Baby” (well,
duh), and “the modern standard, Wham’s
“Last Christmas.” Naturally, there’s a duet
with her hunky beau Blake Shelton, the
upbeat and jubilant “You Make it Feel Like
Christmas.” Stefani delivers a knockout of
a Christmas album, fun and classy, elegant
and bursting with holiday cheer. If you add
one Christmas album to your library this
year, you could do far worse than “You
Make it Feel Like Christmas.”  Two decades ago, back when they
3. LESLIE ODOM, JR. ‘SIMPLY CHRISTMAS’
Tony Award-winning star of “Hamilton,”
Leslie Odom, Jr. delivers the sweetly
soulful “Simply Christmas.” Odom is
obviously going for a classic vibe and
he achieves this down to the black and
white album photo that could have been
lifted straight from an earlier generation.
Odom’s supple voice shines as he runs
through mostly familiar classics, with a
few lesser-known gems thrown in for
variety. Odom’s take on “The Christmas
Song,” a carol that’s been performed and
recorded countless times, is particularly
reverent and sublime. “Simply Christmas”
is heavy on the ballads, so if you’re going
for upbeat holiday party music this might
not be the best choice, but for a romantic
evening in front of the fireplace it couldn’t
be more perfect.  and Fantasia’s renditions are pretty if
4. CHEAP TRICK ‘CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS’
Legendary power-rockers Cheap Trick
are the latest rockers to put their stamp
on the holidays and they turn in a solid
effort on “Christmas Christmas.” The
songs are mostly lesser-known tracks,
although they do tackle a couple ballads:
“Silent Night” doesn’t quite work, but their
bluesy take on “Please Come Home for
Christmas” is a delight. The rockers are
best, though, especially “Run Rudolph
Run,” “Merry Christmas Darlings”  and
the epic “Merry Xmas Everybody.” Cheap
Trick’s “Christmas Christmas” will likely
never be considered a classic holiday
album, but it’s certainly a worthy effort by
a venerable band still going strong.  One, Mr. Grinch” featuring popular teen
5. FANTASIA ‘CHRISTMAS AFTER
MIDNIGHT’
“American Idol” favorite Fantasia
goes for the elegant romantic side of
the holiday with a sophisticated set of
classics and lesser-known tunes that’s
pleasant enough, but doesn’t really live
up to its full potential given the dynamic
power of Fantasia’s voice. It’s a little too
smooth and over-produced. Still, it’s far
from a disaster and there are moments
of pure joy. Fantasia’s jazzy saunter on
“The Snow is Falling” is great, and “Merry
Hanson’s new Christmas album ‘Finally It’s Christmas’ lacks the fun and verve of its 1997
predecessor ‘Snowed In.’
Christmas, Baby” is the song on which her
sparkling personality shines through the
brightest. Yeah, we get another dose of
“The Christmas Song,” “Silent Night” and
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,”
unmemorable. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
is performed as a duet with Cee-Lo
Green, and while Fantasia nails the pert
attitude in her vocal, the song itself never
quite gets beyond its usual creepiness.
“Christmas After Midnight” feels like it
could have been more impactful, but it’s
not awful by any means. Fantasia fans will
love it; appeal beyond that is limited.  though, there is one maudlin ballad: “First
6. LINDSEY STIRLING ‘WARMER IN
THE WINTER’
Violinist Lindsey Stirling offers up her
dazzling musical skills on “Warmer in the
Winter,” a mostly light-hearted collection
heavy on the fun. An early highlight is a
cleverly arranged take on “You’re a Mean
vocalist Sabrina Carpenter. There are also
moments of breathtaking beauty, such as
Stirling’s angelic instrumental renditions
of “Carol of the Bells” and “What Child is
This” (although technically the song was
“Greensleeves” before the lyrics were
written much later, so if it’s instrumental
it shouldn’t really be titled “What Child is
This” ....  Eh, whatever. It’s beautiful). The
shrillness of Stirling’s violin does kinda
grate after a while, so this album might
be better suited for a shuffle mix rather
than listening all the way through.  it comes to Christmas and like to hear
PHOTO COURTESY S-CURVE RECORDS
7. ALABAMA ‘AMERICAN CHRISTMAS’
Country legends Alabama released their
classic “Christmas,” a 1985 collection that
has become a standard, thanks in part to
the smash “Christmas in Dixie.” For their
latest, “American Christmas,” Alabama
adds four originals to a mix of standards
that also includes a new version of
“Christmas in Dixie.” A mix of religious and
secular tunes, “American Christmas” is an
earnest collection that doesn’t really grab
you, but is perfectly fine for background
music or as part of a mix to play on
Christmas morning. Perhaps, inevitably
Christmas Without Daddy.” It’s poignant,
but for those of us who quickly flip through
“Blue Christmas” and prefer holiday music
not drenched in sadness, it’s not likely to
be at the top of our holiday playlist. The
album as a whole is solid if predictable,
which perhaps is the point. With Alabama
you know what you’re gonna get and that
ain’t necessarily a bad thing.  contemporary Christian artists and it’s
8. SIA ‘EVERYDAY IS CHRISTMAS’
It must have seemed like a sure
thing: pop phenom Sia, one of the top
purveyors of pop gold these days both
as a songwriter and performer, teaming
up with uber-producer and songwriter
Greg Kurstin on a collection of newly
written Christmas songs with a modern
pop sheen. A holiday album of all new
originals is a bit unusual these days, as
people are largely traditionalists when
their standards. It can work, though, if the
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A RT S & E N T E RT A I N ME N T
songs are good enough. On “Everyday
is “Christmas,” alas, they just aren’t.
It’s a bit like tinsel that’s supposed to
make your tree all shiny and festive but
instead turns it cheap and tacky. “Puppies
are Forever” (yeah, really) is about as
odious a throwaway as you’ll find, “Ho
Ho Ho” tries to be festive but Sia’s overly
mannered vocals never convey anything
other than an affinity for autotune. The
ballad “Underneath the Mistletoe” is nice
enough, but by and large “Everyday is
Christmas” falls flat. 
9. HANSON ‘FINALLY IT’S CHRISTMAS’
were still a teen-pop sensation, Hanson
released the now-standard holiday
collection “Snowed In.” Now in their
30s, the trio delivers the long-awaiting
follow-up, “Finally It’s Christmas” and it’s
not quite so quite. It’s overproduced,
forced and never transcends its rather
bland formula. Not much personality or
sincerity to be found. The song selections
are uninspired as well: Did the world
really need another version of the already
migraine-inducing “Wonderful Christmas
Time”? Sir Paul still has yet to atone for
unleashing that atrocity upon the world
and Hanson renders it, if anything,
even more annoying. Their attempt at a
Christmas-rock “Til New Years Night” is
limp and the obligatory cover of Mariah
Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” has all
the personality of watered-down eggnog
(without rum). Unless you’re a Hanson
aficionado (and apparently they do exist),
“Finally It’s Christmas” can safely stay
in its shrinkwrap. “Snowed In” is by far
the better of the two, with the younger
version of the trio actually managing
to instill some enthusiasm and holiday
spirit, unlike this leaden collection. 
10. ‘THE STAR (ORIGINAL MOTION
PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)’
Sony Pictures’ critically panned
animated Christmas film “The Star” has
an accompanying soundtrack that is,
well, as bad as the firm purportedly is
(and I make no claims to having seen it,
but the reviews are pretty harsh). Most
of the tracks are performed by gospel or
a mixed bag. Casting Crowns perhaps
owns the gem of the collection with the
beautiful “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and
country singer Jake Owen does a nice
job on “What Child is This?” Zara Larsson
doesn’t quite have the gravitas to pull off a
convincing “Mary, Did You Know?” (check
out Cee-Lo Green’s definitive version
from a few years back instead). The big
opening ballad and title song, “The Star”
by Mariah Carey, is insipid and dreary.
There are a few tracks worth downloaded
from your favorite online retailer, but the
album as a whole is spotty. 
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM D E CE MBE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 • 3 3

CU O
RV F

RE
E “ONE OF THE YEAR’S

AY E S
PL HU ND
MOST BEAUTIFUL
TU
A O
ON L B

G
HE
R

IN
PERFORMANCES.”
KE C
MI RA
PA
D
BY BY
—THE WASHINGTON POST

W
NO
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DE
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Family, a funeral, and an uncertain future—a gently

A

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REALESTATE

The fourth Wise Man: a fractured Christmas story

Mary and Joseph and
their $1,400 refundable
child tax credit
By VALERIE M. BLAKE
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Ha-
nukah, Kwanzaa, or my personal favorite,
Date Nut Bread Day (it’s today!), traditions
abound during the holiday season.
Most traditions involve the gathering
of family and friends at someone’s home
and the consumption of mass quantities
of food and, often, drink – sort of like a
football game with religious overtones.
As a child, my Nana and I used to play
a game of Who Can Tell the Biggest Lie
and it’s in the spirit of that game and in
remembrance of my late Nana (and not
to offend anyone) that I tell you the story
of The Fourth Wise Man as it was loosely
told to me many years ago.
Once upon a time Mary and her husband,
Joseph, were directed to return to their an-
cestral home to register for the Tax Cut and
Jobs Act. Mary was pregnant and the idea
of getting their $1,400 refundable child tax
credit from Marco Rubio was enticing.
The couple booked a flight to Bethle-
hem out of Hartsfield-Jackson Interna-
tional Airport in Atlanta, but as luck would
have it, they were stranded there for two
days due to power outages and lost their
hotel reservations.
Mary was exhausted after the flight,
but little baby Jesus was coming fast so
she sent Joseph down to JC Penney for
some swaddling clothes. As soon has her
contractions were three minutes apart,
she pinged Joseph on his cell phone.
He came rushing back by Uber, upon
which Mary gave birth on that cold, starry
night in a shed that lacked central heating be-
cause all the Airbnbs in Bethlehem were full.
Meanwhile in the suburbs, some men
were tending to their sheep (didn’t I tell
you it was a cold night?) when they spot-
ted a bright light in the sky. Lo and be-
hold, it was an angel riding a unicorn and
carrying a Bell and Howell Tac Light Lan-
tern (As Seen On TV).
The shepherds looked at each other
quizzically, but the angel said, “Fear not,
for I have news of the birth of your Savior
in Bethlehem – a child who will be king.
And I’ve brought bacon.”
Then more angels came and chatted
for a while and the shepherds, being good
hosts, broke out a flacon of Prosecco to
share with everyone before leaving for
Bethlehem. There they found the baby ly-
ing in a manger and immediately tweeted
out the news to their friends and posted a
selfie with Mary and Joseph on Facebook.
In another land far, far away, wise men
who were gathered at a meeting of the
United Nations Security Council received
the tweet on their iPhones. Suddenly,
something bright shone the sky.
“It’s a bird,” cried Balthasar. “No, it’s a
plane,” exclaimed Melchior. “I’m a sci-
Once upon a time Mary and her husband,
Joseph, were directed to return to their
ancestral home to register for the Tax Cut
and Jobs Act.
PHOTO BY BIGSTOCK; COURTESY OF GINO SANTA MARIA
entist and I say it’s a star,” said Gaspar
proudly. “Let’s check it out,” suggested
Fred, the Fourth Wise Man, “but first, let’s
stop at Neiman’s to pick up a baby gift.”
So, they did.
Well, as luck would have it, en route to Beth-
lehem, they ran into King Roy Moore who was
sitting astride his camel and blocking their
path. “Hey, Roy,” said Fred. “Is that a pistol in
your pocket or are you glad to see me?”
“Bless your heart, Fred,” replied Roy.
“I see you’re wearing your gay apparel.
Have you heard about the baby born in
Bethlehem?” “Yes, answered Fred, “We’re
on our way to meet him now as soon as
we stop for brunch. Care to join us?”
“Nah, you guys go on ahead. Cash me
outside, how bow dah?” said Roy who was
actually plotting against the baby, so he
could continue being king.
In Bethlehem, the wise guys presented
their gifts to Baby Jesus.
“I offer you this photo of gold,” said
Balthazar. “You can visit the real stuff at
Fort Knox. Just call Steven Mnuchin so
you can use his plane.”
“I offer you frankincense,” said Mel-
chior. The baby sneezed.
“I offer you myrrh,” said Gaspar. Mary
rolled her eyes at Joseph and whispered,
“WTF is myrrh?”
“I’ve got this, guys,” said Fred. “I offer
Baby Jesus a tuition-free, science-based
college education so he can study ways
to combat climate change, save the world
and bring us peace on Earth.”
“You win,” said Joseph, “but we’d bet-
ter hit the road. I hear King Roy Moore is
coming for our children.”
So, they fled to Nazareth in the suburbs
of Galilee, where Baby Jesus grew to be
a man who wore gender-neutral clothing,
celebrated diversity, ministered to the
poor and the sick, and preached love and
tolerance for all.
Way to go, Jesus!
VALERIE M. BLAKE is a licensed Associate Broker
in D.C., Maryland and Virginia and Director of Ed-
ucation & Mentorship at Real Living|At Home. Call
or text her at 202-246-8602, email her at Valerie@
DCHomeQuest.com, or follow her on Facebook at
TheRealst8ofAffairs.

Happy Holidays
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3 6 • DE CE MB ER 2 2, 2017 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
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